This winter, renters in frigid Los Angeles apartments will have some serious ammunition in their hands when they complain to their landlords about unheated and drafty rooms. Legally speaking, rental units are not supposed to have temperatures below a balmy 70 degrees.
When summer comes, there is no such protection for the opposite problem: a stuffy, unair-conditioned home. The county does not set a maximum temperature for rental housing, an issue that leaves vulnerable renters exposed to sweltering temperatures during the hot season as California grapples with the effects of climate change and extreme heat. That's what advocacy groups argue.
Los Angeles County supervisors want to change that. On Tuesday, the board voted to direct staff to begin drafting an ordinance that would set a maximum temperature for rental housing in most of the county. Supervisor Kathryn Berger was the only dissenting vote.
“Tenants should have the opportunity to escape the extreme heat in their homes without fear of eviction or additional rent costs,” said Supervisor Hilda Solis, who co-authored the motion with Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.
Unlike many of the motions passed in the county, the resulting ordinance could apply to far more residents than just the roughly 1 million residents of unincorporated Los Angeles County. .
Other jurisdictions in Los Angeles County will have a chance to easily adopt this policy as the county considers adding it to its health code. The only exceptions are the cities of Long Beach and Pasadena, which have their own public health departments.
L.A. County will be one of the largest jurisdictions to tackle this, but it won't be the first.in phoenix, landlords are required to maintain air conditioning in their units at a maximum of 82 degrees.in clark countyIn Nevada, the unit cannot exceed 85 degrees. In Palm Springs, units must have air conditioning and cannot get above 80 degrees.
Horvath said the increasingly deadly heat wave represents a clear public health emergency for the county.
“Setting maximum temperatures for rental housing will protect our most vulnerable Angelenos, including seniors and families with young children, who are staying safe and comfortable in their homes,” she said in a statement.
Horvath's office said the county will not dictate exactly how homeowners need to keep their rooms cool. Some people will probably need to install air conditioners or heat pumps. But other areas in more temperate areas of the county could use energy-efficient upgrades. air seal, cool roof or even replacing old windows to keep the unit at the desired temperature, officials said.
The county does not yet know what the maximum temperature will be. The county public health department previously Recommendation The maximum temperature is 82 degrees for units with air conditioning and 86 degrees for units without air conditioning. But county supervisors say they are not interested in scope. Tuesday's motion calls for a single maximum temperature ordinance.
It's also unclear how the ordinance will help landlords keep their rooms cool. In other jurisdictions with maximum temperature limits, renters can: File Landlords can be fined if they file a complaint.
Landlords and building owners have expressed concerns to the California Apartment Association about potential costs associated with this claim.write to Recent Letters to the Board Such renovations “may require significant capital expenditures to renovate and renovate buildings, which will have an economic impact on residents.”
“The apartment building was built to the standards of the day, and the managers are refusing to accept climate change through no fault of their own,” the letter from Fred Sutton, the group's senior vice president of local communications, said in a letter. “I realized that I was facing a change in the world.'' “There are potential unintended consequences that departments and oversight boards need to be aware of before enacting an ordinance. We respectfully request that a thorough and comprehensive investigation be carried out in parallel.”
But a September poll from the University of California, Berkeley Institute of Government, co-sponsored by the Times, found that Californians largely support the idea. Sixty-seven percent of voters said they supported the concept of states establishing cooling standards for residential properties.
And while the move could be costly for building owners, environmental groups say it could save many lives.
“This is an important and meaningful step forward in developing innovative protections for people at risk,” said Louis Blumberg, senior climate policy advisor at Climate Resolve.
Last year was the hottest year on record on Earth, and temperatures are expected to rise even further in the coming years. In July, Phoenix experienced record temperatures of 110 degrees or higher for 31 days in a row, and California's Death Valley soared to 128 degrees, a near-world record.
The motion reveals that heat-related deaths are chronically undercounted in the state, and that the number of heat-related deaths from 2010 to 2019 could reach 3,900 in 2021. Cited a Times investigation.
That number could rise to 4,300 per year by 2025 and 11,300 by 2050, when heat waves worsen, according to projections by the California Department of Public Health.
“Heat waves in Los Angeles County are worsening as anthropogenic climate change continues to alter our environment,” the motion states. It notes that California's heat waves have become more frequent, longer and more intense over the past 70 years. The region is now 2 degrees warmer than it was in the 1950s, and temperatures are expected to rise by another 4 to 5 degrees over the next few decades.
But extreme heat is already a killer; causes more deaths than any other natural disasteraccording to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
This situation is often felt most acutely in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color, where tree canopy levels are disproportionately low and asphalt and pavement absorb heat, lowering local temperatures. We are suffering from the urban heat island effect, where the temperature rises several degrees.
Blumberg noted that extreme heat also tends to affect the most vulnerable, including children, the elderly, and people with underlying health conditions who have difficulty regulating their body temperature.
“Heat is a serious threat to entire communities, especially marginalized communities,” he says. “As the planet warms, the problem will only get worse.”
And while climate resolve experts supported the motion, they said there were ways things could be improved. First, Blumberg said, there needs to be more clarity about whether certain temperature ranges are permissible or whether there is a single limit, such as 82 degrees.
Additionally, he says providing a cooling unit is just one of several steps needed to ensure efficiency and results. Older buildings in particular need better insulation and weatherization to prevent cold air from escaping. Tree planting is also essential to provide additional shade and cooling throughout the area.
“Society needs a comprehensive, integrated approach to dealing with extreme heat,” Blumberg said. “There are many things that can and should be done, but they work together.”
Among other things, the motion calls for a phased approach to significantly retrofit buildings and immediately subject recently constructed homes to maximum indoor heat temperature thresholds. Existing buildings will be granted an additional period of time to comply with the standards, with additional considerations based on the building's age, number of units and the landlord's financial ability to comply, according to the motion.
In addition, the motion also calls for the establishment of anti-eviction clauses to prevent, to the extent possible, landlords from passing on the cost of compliance to tenants through surcharges, rent, or other fees, and for this practice to be considered a tort. They are looking for the latest tenant protections to ensure that they are not exposed. Evicted.
According to the motion, county officials are seeking potential funding sources and federal and state funding to help implement the program, including assistance for small landlords and low-income tenants who are “disproportionately burdened by renovation requirements.” It is said to be tasked with identifying access to resources.
California is considering setting home cooling guidelines at the state level, and some opponents asked the board to wait for a decision.
“This motion is extremely premature,” said Jesús Rojas, the apartment association's government affairs coordinator. A Los Angeles metropolitan lawmaker told the board on Tuesday. He emphasized that adding air conditioning to housing units costs a lot of money and said the commission should let state-level officials complete their studies and develop recommendations before proceeding. .
“This move is especially callous and insensitive to the needs of Los Angeles County residents as single-parent homeowners and renters alike are still struggling financially to recover from the effects of COVID-19.” I can see it,” he said.
The state is also considering establishing cooling standards for indoor workers. Previous reports have found that temperatures in warehouses can reach 90 degrees or more in places like the Inland Empire. The California Occupational Safety and Health Administration is expected to vote on the issue as early as March.
“Part of the benefit of a county ordinance is that it drives the state forward, helps the process, and creates momentum for action at the state level,” Blumberg said.
Such a decision cannot be made quickly, he said. California's “heat season” will begin in about 90 days.
“We may be able to save lives,” Blumberg said. “These are preventable deaths.”
