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SALT LAKE CITY — State lawmakers moved forward with a plan to create "code red" alerts meant to protect unhoused Utahns from dangerous summer temperatures, similar to the "code blue" system in place during extreme cold nights.
The proposal, sponsored by Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, requires the state Department of Health and Human Services to issue alerts when temperatures are forecast to reach 105 degrees. The "code red" alert would trigger emergency provisions allowing homeless shelters and cooling centers to expand capacity by up to 35% in an effort to get more people off the streets.
Weiler said SB182 would act as a "companion" to the winter "code blue" alerts, but said "code red" alerts should not require additional overnight sleeping space as temperatures typically fall below the threshold at night.
"I think that as a state, the bare minimum that we should be requiring is not letting people freeze to death on the street or die from heat exhaustion on the street," he told the Senate Health and Human Services Committee Thursday. "I mean, there's probably a lot more we could talk about, but to me, like this is literally the lowest common denominator that I think — hopefully — we can all agree on."
"I think we should have done this a long time ago," he added.
Weiler presented his bill alongside Wayne Niederhauser, the state's homeless coordinator. Niederhauser said some details are still being ironed out between various stakeholders and said changes could include tying the heat threshold to the National Weather Service's Heat Index — rather than relying simply on the forecast temperature.
The Heat Index classifies the likelihood of heat disorders based on temperature and relative humidity. Niederhauser said policymakers are looking at using the "orange strata" — at which the National Weather Service warns of "danger" — as the threshold. That ranges from 105 degrees on the low end with 40% relative humidity to 112 degrees with 100% relative humidity.
He said the change would bring the "same type of result, but if you talk to the state epidemiologist, this is kind of that threshold where people are at risk."
Niederhauser also said they are looking at limiting the time frame for "code red" alerts — possibly just between June 1 and Sept. 30 of each year. When asked why it would need to be limited, Weiler said it is intended to reduce the costs for local governments that are tasked with having emergency shelter space available during months when alerts are possible.
SB182 advanced out of committee with relative ease and no opposition. Molly Wheeler, a representative of the Utah League of Cities and Towns — which lobbies on behalf of Utah's municipalities — said the organization has yet to take a formal position on the proposal pending some "technical changes" it is working with Weiler to "get those clarified."
