The Ogden City Council is asking the governor to veto a bill that would place some renters in charge of carbon monoxide alarms.
In its letter requesting the veto, the council highlighted how one Ogden resident died and three police officers and two firefighters were sickened in a 2006 carbon monoxide poisoning.
"The City Council remains committed to our policy and to the protection of our city's citizens from the potential dangers of carbon monoxide," says a letter was dated Tuesday and addressed to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.
Huntsman's spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley, could not immediately say whether the governor would sign the bill.
L. Paul Smith, executive director of Utah Apartment Association, wants Huntsman to sign it. Smith said the bill would increase safety by making the people the alarms are designed to protect -- the occupants -- responsible for the devices.
"The best way to protect people is to have the person who [the alarm is] protecting responsible for its installation and its maintenance," Smith said.
Council Chairwoman Amy Wicks said HB402 could mean additional work and increased conflict for building inspectors, who usually enforce other building codes against owners rather than tenants.
In Salt Lake County, carbon monoxide alarms are required under health ordinances.
Royal DeLegge, the environmental health director with the Salt Lake Valley Health Department, said HB402 is not "in the best interest of public health." But the health department is not advocating against the bill, he said.
"We will amend our regulation to fit what the Legislature has required," DeLegge said.
HB402 affects renters in Ogden and Salt Lake County, the only two locations in Utah that require carbon monoxide alarms in residences. The bill passed by the Legislature this month says those requirements cannot be enforced against the building owner. That leaves tenants responsible for installing them in older buildings and maintaining them.
