HUD Agrees to Provide $5 Million for Carbon Monoxide Detectors in Public Housing After Deaths

HUD announced last month that it would issue a new rule to make carbon monoxide detectors mandatory

The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that it would provide $5 million to install carbon monoxide detectors in public housing, after an NBC News investigation revealed the lack of protections for millions of low-income tenants who live in federally subsidized rental units.

The funding for public housing authorities represents "the first time HUD is targeting grants specifically for the purchase and installation of carbon monoxide detectors,” the department said Monday in a press release and NBC News reported.

Carbon monoxide detectors are not currently required in HUD housing, despite the deaths of at least 13 residents from carbon monoxide poisoning since 2003, according to an NBC News tally based on federal records, interviews with local housing officials and local news reports. HUD does not keep an official tally of carbon monoxide deaths in the housing that it oversees.

“Carbon monoxide poisoning presents a risk to families living in public housing,” HUD Secretary Ben Carson said in the press release Monday. “This funding will allow more public housing authorities to purchase and install these lifesaving detectors.”

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