Texas, on Friday (Sept. 5), did what no state has ever done before: Adopt NFPA 1194 as the statewide building standard for RV parks and campgrounds, according to a press release.
“Gov. Greg Abbott signed NFPA 1194 into law Friday morning as part of legislation aimed at improving flood and other disaster preparedness in Texas,” said Brian Schaeffer, executive director and CEO of the Texas Association of Campground Owners (TACO).
Senate Bill 1, also called the “Heaven’s 27 Camp Safety Act” in honor of the 27 children who were killed by flooding at Camp Mystic, includes safety requirements for youth camps as well as private campgrounds and RV parks.
“The bill requires youth camps and campgrounds to maintain real-time weather alert systems, train staff on evacuation routes, and develop emergency preparedness plans,” Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick said in a statement, adding, “Camps must also be transparent with families about potential risks, ensure every staff member is trained in emergency procedures, and prohibit cabins, used as sleeping quarters, from being located in dangerous river floodplains.
“In addition, SB 1 requires camps to have the ability to notify and communicate with campers and staff during an emergency, and mandates that emergency plans be shared with local emergency management coordinators,” he added.
Schaeffer said TACO was able to incorporate NFPA 1194 into the legislation because it contains several of the emergency procedures and safety requirements sought by Texas legislators. He added that TACO is working right now to develop emergency plan templates that its members can customize for their parks.
“We plan to host a webinar in the coming weeks to walk our members through our emergency plan template,” Schaeffer said, adding, “We’re going to make it as easy as possible for RV parks and campgrounds to create their own evacuation plans and procedures that reflect the NFPA 1194 building and safety standards that are now part of Texas law.”
The Texas legislature’s efforts to require campgrounds and summer camps to adopt new safety standards began with Drew Darby, a Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives who represents rural counties in West Texas. Darby filed his campground safety bill, HB 19, a few weeks after the Fourth of July flood killed at least 135 people in Texas, mostly in Kerr County, which is about 150 miles southeast of Darby’s home base in San Angelo.
Twenty-seven of the flood victims were children who were staying at Camp Mystic, a private Christian girls’ camp in Hunt, Texas.
TACO, for its part, had been trying to persuade Texas legislators to adopt NFPA 1194 as the statewide building and safety standard for RV parks and campgrounds for several years, most recently during the previous legislative session. TACO worked with Rep. Ryan Guillen and secured House passage of a bill, HB 1286, authorizing NFPA 1194 as the statewide standard during the previous legislative session, but the association was unable to push the legislation through the Senate.
Undeterred, TACO worked with Senator Pete Flores, who filed SB 395 late last year in an effort to address NFPA 1194 during the current legislative session. But it wasn’t until the catastrophic floods hit Kerr County that TACO’s NFPA 1194 efforts gained significant momentum.
TACO Legislative Consultant Ron Hinkle and Legislative Liaison Randall Dally, of Rayburn RV Hideout in Brookeland, were very instrumental in coordinating and participating in the committee testimony process.
With Governor Abbott signing SB 1 into law on Friday, Texas has become the first state in the nation to adopt NFPA 1194 as the statewide building and safety code standard for RV parks and campgrounds.
To learn more about TACO and its advocacy efforts, click here.
