For Immediate Release: Tuesday, December 8, 2020
New legislation would remove mercury service regulators and add window guards to residential buildings
ROCKVILLE, Md., Dec. 8, 2020—Today Council President Tom Hucker introduced Expedited Bill 50-20 – Landlord-Tenant Relations – Fire Safety – Removal of Mercury Service Regulators and Bill 51-20 – Housing and Building Maintenance Standards –Window Guards. These new bills are part of Council President Hucker's ongoing efforts to improve housing conditions for residents across Montgomery County.
Expedited Bill 50-20 requires landlords to schedule the replacement of indoor mercury service regulators that regulate the flow of natural gas into the home and can cause natural gas to build up and ignite, if not installed properly. The bill also requires landlords to notify each tenant if a mercury regulator is found and to contact the gas utility to arrange for an immediate replacement with a safe alternative.
“We have to do everything in our power to ensure that we never have another tragedy like the fatal Flower Branch explosion,” Council President Hucker said. “Now that the federal government has told us that many other properties have the type of outdated, dangerous equipment that caused the Flower Branch explosion, we have to make sure that landlords work with the gas utility to replace them. The passage of this bill will save lives by requiring property owners to identify all mercury service regulators and have them safely removed.”
The National Transportation Safety Board found that the Aug. 2016 explosion at the Flower Branch Apartments in Silver Spring was caused when a failing mercury service regulator which was not connected to a vent line allowed natural gas to build up and ignite. The explosion and fire killed seven people and displaced more than 100 residents.
The second bill introduced today, known as the Window Safety Act, requires the installation of window guards to protect children from the risk of falling. The bill also requires notifications to tenants about window guards and directs tenants not to remove them. The landlord also would not be permitted to charge a tenant for the installation or maintenance of window guards.
“No one should live in apartments that could allow a child to fall out of a window. Yet window falls happen far too often with tragic consequences. This legislation will ensure that no parent will have to worry about losing a child again,” Council President Hucker said. “This is a straightforward, common-sense bill that ensures fundamental safety for our children.”
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital reports that, “Each year in the U.S. 15 to 20 children under the age of 11 die and nearly 15,000 are injured because of falls from windows.”
Multiple toddlers have been seriously injured by falling from windows in our own community. As recently as October, a two-year-old boy died after he fell from a third-floor apartment in Takoma Park. In May 2020, a toddler was injured from falling from an upper-story window in Gaithersburg. In 2019, a two-year-old boy fell from an 11th-floor window and was seriously hurt in Takoma Park.
Public hearings on both bills are scheduled for Jan. 12, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. The Council staff report for Expedited Bill 50-20 can be viewed here and Bill 51-20 can be viewed here.
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Release ID: 20-486