SB 659 — An Act amending Title 58 (Oil and Gas) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes, in utilization, providing for combustible gas detectors; and imposing a penalty.

PRINTER'S NO.   698

                     THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA



                        SENATE BILL
                        No. 659
                                                Session of
                                                  2025

     INTRODUCED BY MUTH, FONTANA, SCHWANK, HAYWOOD AND SAVAL,
        APRIL 28, 2025

     REFERRED TO ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCES AND ENERGY, APRIL 28, 2025


                                     AN ACT
 1   Amending Title 58 (Oil and Gas) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
 2      Statutes, in utilization, providing for combustible gas
 3      detectors; and imposing a penalty.
 4      The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
 5   hereby enacts as follows:
 6      Section 1.    Title 58 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
 7   Statutes is amended by adding a chapter to read:
 8                                 CHAPTER 37
 9                          COMBUSTIBLE GAS DETECTORS
10   Sec.
11   3701.   Scope of chapter.
12   3702.   Definitions.
13   3703.   Fuel gas detector required.
14   3704.   Residential rental units.
15   3705.   Transfer of building.
16   3706.   Noninterference.
17   3707.   Construction.
18   3708.   Enforcement.
 1   § 3701.    Scope of chapter.
 2      This chapter relates to combustible gas detectors.
 3   § 3702.    Definitions.
 4      The following words and phrases when used in this chapter
 5   shall have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
 6   context clearly indicates otherwise:
 7      "Assembly occupancy."       An assembly occupancy classification
 8   consistent with the provisions of the Uniform Construction Code.
 9      "Business occupancy."       The business occupancy classification
10   consistent with the provisions of the Uniform Construction Code.
11      "Child care."     Care in lieu of parental care given for part
12   of the day to a child under 16 years of age away from the
13   child's own home. The term does not include child care furnished
14   in a place of worship during religious services.
15      "Child-care facility."      Any of the following:
16             (1)   A premises in which child care is provided for a
17      period exceeding 24 hours for a child under 16 years of age
18      who is not a relative of the operator and is not accompanied
19      by a parent, individual standing in loco parentis or legal
20      guardian. The term does not include a premises selected for
21      care of a child by a parent, loco parentis or legal guardian
22      for a period of 30 days or less or a facility operated under
23      social service auspices.
24             (2)   A premises in which child care is provided
25      simultaneously for seven or more children who are not
26      relatives of the operator, except a facility operated under
27      social service auspices.
28             (3)   A home where child care is provided at any time to
29      no less than four children and no more than six children who
30      are not relatives of the caregiver.

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 1          (4)     A nursery school that is licensed and regulated by
 2      the Commonwealth.
 3      "Dormitory."      A building that contains one or more housing
 4   units owned or leased by an institution of higher education and
 5   is used as a residence by the students of that institution.
 6      "Fuel gas detector."      A device that meets all of the
 7   following requirements:
 8          (1)     Has an assembly that incorporates a sensor control
 9      component and an alarm notification that detects elevations
10      in propane, natural gas or any liquefied petroleum gas.
11          (2)     Sounds a warning alarm.
12          (3)     Is approved or listed for the purpose specified in
13      paragraph (2) by a nationally recognized independent testing
14      laboratory.
15      "Housing unit."      A room or suite of two or more rooms
16   occupied, leased for occupation or intended or designed to be
17   occupied as a residence by the students of an institution of
18   higher education.
19      "Install."      To attach a fuel gas detector to a wall or
20   ceiling and:
21          (1)     hard-wire the fuel gas detector into electrical
22      wiring;
23          (2)     directly plug the fuel gas detector into an
24      electrical outlet without a switch, other than a circuit
25      breaker; or
26          (3)     if the fuel gas detector is battery-powered, place
27      fully charged batteries into the fuel gas detector.
28      "Lodging establishment."      As follows:
29          (1)     Any of the following:
30                (i)    A hotel, motel, inn, guest house or other

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 1          structure held out by any means, including advertising,
 2          license, registration with an innkeepers' group,
 3          convention listing association, travel publication or
 4          similar association or with a government agency, as being
 5          available to provide overnight lodging or use of facility
 6          space for consideration to persons seeking temporary
 7          accommodation.
 8                 (ii)    A place that advertises beds, sanitary
 9          facilities or other space for a temporary period to
10          members of the public at large.
11                 (iii)    A place recognized as a hostelry.
12          (2)    The term includes any portion of a facility devoted
13      to a person who pays consideration to occupy one or more
14      units as an established permanent residence.
15      "Mercantile occupancy."      The mercantile occupancy
16   classification consistent with the provisions of the Uniform
17   Construction Code.
18      "Multifamily dwelling."      A house or building, or a portion of
19   a house or building, intended or designed to be occupied or
20   leased for occupation, or occupied as a home or residence for
21   three or more households living and cooking in separate
22   apartments.
23      "Residential building."      Detached one-family and two-family
24   dwellings and multiple single-family dwellings not more than
25   three stories in height with a separate means of egress,
26   including accessory structures.
27      "Uniform Construction Code."       The Uniform Construction Code
28   adopted at 34 Pa. Code § 403.21 (relating to uniform
29   construction code) under the authority granted in the act of
30   November 10, 1999 (P.L.491, No.45), known as the Pennsylvania

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 1   Construction Code Act.
 2   § 3703.    Fuel gas detector required.
 3      (a)    Duty of owner to install.--
 4             (1)   An owner of any of the following buildings shall
 5      install, or cause to be installed, in accordance with the
 6      manufacturer's requirements, at least one approved fuel gas
 7      detector in every room containing an appliance fueled by
 8      propane, natural gas or any liquefied petroleum gas:
 9                   (i)    A residential building.
10                   (ii)    A multifamily dwelling.
11                   (iii)    A dormitory.
12                   (iv)    A child-care facility.
13                   (v)    A lodging establishment.
14                   (vi)    A mixed-use occupancy building containing a
15             dwelling unit.
16             (2)   Beginning January 1, 2026, an owner of a building
17      with any of the following occupancy classifications shall
18      install, or cause to be installed, in accordance with the
19      manufacturer's requirements, at least one approved fuel gas
20      detector in every room containing an appliance fueled by
21      propane, natural gas or any liquefied petroleum gas:
22                   (i)    Assembly occupancy.
23                   (ii)    Business occupancy.
24                   (iii)    Mercantile occupancy.
25      (b)    (Reserved).
26   § 3704.    Residential rental units.
27      (a)    Duties of landlord.--A landlord of a residential unit
28   occupied under the terms of a rental agreement or under a month-
29   to-month tenancy shall:
30             (1)   Provide fuel gas detectors, if fuel gas detectors

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 1      are not already present.
 2             (2)   Maintain each fuel gas detector in working
 3      condition.
 4             (3)   After notification, in writing, by the tenant of a
 5      deficiency in a fuel gas detector, repair or replace the fuel
 6      gas detector, if deficient.
 7      (b)    Annual inspection.--The landlord shall conduct a yearly
 8   inspection of the fuel gas detector to ensure that it is in
 9   working condition and shall certify at the end of each
10   inspection that a proper inspection occurred.
11      (c)    Limitations.--If the landlord complied with the duty to
12   maintain the fuel detectors in accordance with this chapter and
13   did not know or had not been notified of the need to repair or
14   replace a fuel gas detector, the landlord's failure to repair or
15   replace the fuel gas detector may not be considered evidence of
16   negligence in a subsequent civil action arising from death,
17   property loss or personal injury.
18      (d)    Duties of tenant.--
19             (1)   A tenant may not disconnect or disable a fuel gas
20      detector in the unit occupied by the tenant from the
21      electrical service in the building.
22             (2)   The tenant shall periodically test the fuel gas
23      detectors in a battery-powered fuel gas detector.
24             (3)   The tenant shall promptly communicate any deficiency
25      of the fuel detector to the landlord.
26   § 3705.    Transfer of building.
27      (a)    Duties.--A person that, after January 1, 2026, acquires
28   by sale or exchange a building listed in section 3703(a)(1)
29   (relating to fuel gas detector required) shall:
30             (1)   Install fuel gas detectors in the building in

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 1      accordance with section 3703 within 30 days of acquisition or
 2      occupancy of the building, whichever is later, if fuel gas
 3      detectors are not already present.
 4             (2)   Certify at the closing of the transaction that fuel
 5      gas detectors will be installed.
 6      (b)     Method of installation.--The person shall install a fuel
 7   gas detector in accordance with the manufacturer's requirements
 8   at the time of installation in each area containing an appliance
 9   fueled by propane, natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas.
10      (c)     Immunity.--A person may not have a claim for relief
11   against a property owner, a property purchaser, an authorized
12   agent of a property owner or purchaser, a person in possession
13   of real property, a closing agent or a lender for any damages
14   resulting from the operation, maintenance or effectiveness of a
15   fuel gas detector.
16      (d)     Title unaffected by violation.--A violation of this
17   section does not create a defect in title to the property.
18   § 3706.    Noninterference.
19      (a)     Duties required.--A person may not knowingly interfere
20   with or make inoperative a fuel gas detector required under this
21   chapter.
22      (b)     Exception.--Subsection (a) does not apply to an owner or
23   agent of an owner of a building who temporarily disconnects a
24   fuel gas detector in a dwelling unit or common area if:
25             (1)   The fuel gas detector is disconnected only for
26      construction or rehabilitation activities when the activities
27      are likely to activate the fuel gas detector or make it
28      inactive.
29             (2)   The fuel gas detector is immediately reconnected at
30      the cessation of construction or rehabilitation activities

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 1      each day, regardless of the intent to return to construction
 2      or rehabilitation activities on succeeding days.
 3   § 3707.   Construction.
 4      Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to create a cause
 5   of action against an owner required to comply with section 3703
 6   (relating to fuel gas detector required) or 3704 (relating to
 7   residential rental units) if the owner has conducted an
 8   inspection of the required fuel gas detectors immediately after
 9   installation and has reinspected the fuel gas detectors prior to
10   occupancy by each new tenant, unless the owner was given at
11   least 24 hours' actual notice of a defect or failure of the fuel
12   gas detector to operate properly and failed to take action to
13   correct the defect or failure.
14   § 3708.   Enforcement.
15      (a)    Complaint.--A person that is aggrieved by a violation of
16   this chapter may bring a civil action against an owner who fails
17   to comply with this chapter.
18      (b)    Penalty.--An owner who violates this chapter shall be
19   subject to a civil fine of not more than $500 for each
20   violation. The court may waive any penalty or cost against a
21   violator upon satisfactory proof that the violation was
22   corrected within 10 days of the service of a complaint.
23      Section 2.   This act shall take effect in 90 days.




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