The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced Wednesday it will ban smoking in all subsidized housing in order to protect other tenants from second-hand smoke, according to an article by Tim Devaney for The Hill.
This ban encompasses more than 940,000 homes subsidized by the federal government. HUD Secretary Julián Castro explained some of the motivation behind the new rule.
From the article:
"Every child deserves to grow up in a safe, healthy home free from harmful second-hand cigarette smoke," Housing Secretary Julián Castro said in a statement.
The rule is scheduled to go into effect in 18 months, and could still be overturned by President-elect Donald Trump’s administration, according to the article.
However this rule is not a new concept. Currently about 228,000 public housing units have smoking bans in place from state and local authorities. The new rules expands on the current bans to put restrictions in place at the federal level.
The exception to the rule will be electronic cigarettes, which tenants will be allowed to continue, or start, using.
But second-hand smoke dangers to children and neighbors isn’t the only motivation behind the new rule.
From the article:
The smoking ban will also crack down on millions of dollars worth a property damaged caused each year from preventable fires and repairs, according to HUD.
