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Council asks staff to study adding radon testing and mitigation to rental certificates
Summary
Councilmember Mandelbaum asked staff to prepare recommendations for requiring radon testing — and mitigation if levels are high — as a condition of rental certificates; staff said work is already underway and the council voted unanimously to request a formal recommendation and public presentation.
Councilmember Mandelbaum asked the Des Moines City Council on May 18 to direct city staff to draft a proposal for incorporating radon testing — and, if elevated levels are found, required mitigation — into the city’s rental-certificate process.
Mandelbaum told the council the initiative would close a gap between protections for new construction and older rental housing, citing recent state legislation that requires passive radon mitigation systems in newly built homes. “One of the key risk factors identified in the report highlights is radon exposure in the state,” Mandelbaum said, adding that radon “is one of the leading causes of lung cancer.”
Staff responded that the city has already begun looking into the issue and will coordinate with the study authors and stakeholders. A staff member told the council the city is engaged with county and regional partners and is scheduling additional sessions to ensure broad public access to the findings. The exchange made clear the request is for staff recommendations and not an immediate ordinance.
The council voted 7-0 to ask staff to return with a recommendation for how radon mitigation testing could be incorporated into rental-certificate requirements and how, if tests show high levels, mitigation could be required as a condition of certification. Mandelbaum said the council could consider the staff proposal in a future work session or bring it back to the council for action.
Next steps: staff will prepare technical and implementation guidance and recommend whether the city should add testing and mitigation as licensing conditions; the council did not adopt ordinance language at the meeting.
