The Texas Association of Campground Owners (TACO) hosted a Zoom webinar focused on SB 1 and the new NFPA 1194 requirements on Wednesday, Oct. 22, which was attended by over 75 people.
The webinar offered a chance for TACO officials, including CEO/Executive Director Brian Schaeffer; TACO Legislative Liaison Randall Dally; and TACO Legislative Consultant Ron Hinkle to highlight some of the legislative work they have been focused on, as well as highlight what park owners need to focus on as implementation work begins with new evacuation plan requirements related to NFPA 1194.
Schaeffer kicked off the webinar by noting that TACO had been focused on NFPA 1194 issues during the 89th Regular Session of the state legislature earlier in the year, along with issues including commercial property taxes, school start date, personal business taxes, tiny home distinction and more.
However, a bill to pass NFPA 1194 failed to get a vote in the Texas Senate due to outside interest groups, noted Schaeffer.
“While the governor was already planning a special session before the Fourth of July flooding, that disaster shifted the special session’s focus to disaster relief and preparedness, and that allowed us to reintroduce NFPA 1194,” said Schaeffer.
TACO worked to fight “blowback” after the flooding to ensure that legislative issues didn’t put parks out of business, he noted, while also helping the legislature distinguish between RV parks/campgrounds and youth camps.
“We were able to assert ourselves on the difference between an RV park/campground and a youth camp, while also highlighting that NFPA 1194 covers all the bases as far as evacuation planning that state officials wanted,” said Hinkle.
TACO officials noted that NFPA 1194 requires an evacuation plan, but that it is specific to the needs of a park or area.
Eventually, NFPA 1194 legislation was passed and signed into law, with the 2021 version identified as the NFPA 1194 standard that would be followed.
“It is very comprehensive and by following just the 2021 version, it protects TACO members from having to constantly update and comply with changes to the NFPA 1194 standard,” Schaeffer noted.
Sections 1.1.1 and 5.1.1.1 were omitted from the law.
Section 1.1.1 would have grandfathered all parks in and would have forced every park to upgrade to the new standard.
Section 5.1.1.1 was a section of NFPA 1194 that required all evacuation plans to be reviewed by the State Fire Marshall, something which the State Fire Marshall’s office wanted omitted.
Schaeffer also told webinar attendees that the new NFPA 1194 law will fit into the framework of HB 2127, which was signed into law during the 2023 session. This basically says that if something is on the books at the state level, then local city or county officials cannot make up rules beyond what the state law mentions because those rules would be trumped by rules at the state level.
“This is another reason why getting NFPA 1194 passed was such an important issue for park owners, because there are parks that have had, and still are, having issues with local municipalities,” said Schaeffer.
EVACUATION PLANS
One of the largest issues attached to the NFPA 1194 law is the fact that all parks will need to have an evacuation plan in place, and that a park’s evacuation plan will need to be approved by the “authority having jurisdiction.”
TACO officials noted during the webinar that the “authority having jurisdiction” is still up in the air. State officials still have to sort out some of the rules related to this bill, and TACO officials explained that a public comment period will be part of those discussions.
“Hang on for right now and let them sort it out,” said Dally. “Eventually, there will be an outline on where park owners need to go to get their evacuation plans approved.”
Brian Schaeffer told webinar attendees that it was still important for park owners/operators to create evacuation plans right now.
“You want to be in a position to point out that you had a plan and then mention that you couldn’t find the person to get it approved right now,” he said.
He highlighted that if park owners/operators do nothing right now that they could be putting their businesses at risk and that it is contrary to the law.
TACO said it is also imperative that the association and park owners/operators ensure local officials are not requiring more than is needed through the NFPA 1194 law, and that if they have issues, TACO officials are ready to help.
TACO is also creating evacuation plan templates, which should be available in November. After that, TACO will be focusing on park staff training options.
Q&A
PMRV and cabin ladder requirements were brought up during the Q&A portion of the webinar. Dally noted that only cabins or PMRVs in a flood plain are required to have a roof access ladder.
“It also depends on whether you are looking at potential rising water (lake) or if it’s rushing water,” he noted.
Dally encouraged park owners/operators to hold off on ladders at the moment because there are issues that state officials still need to sort through.