New rules for grease-cleaning firms won't be ready until next week
By John C. Drake, Globe Staff
The Boston City Council will take up a proposal to regulate commercial kitchen hood and vent cleaners next week, instead of tomorrow as council members had hoped, Councilor Mike Ross said today.
The rules would establish a $200 fine for restaurants that fail to have their ventilation systems regularly cleaned by a company certified and licensed by the city.
The rules are a response to the death in August of two Boston firefighters battling a blaze at a West Roxbury restaurant that started in a kitchen ventilation system.
Councilors had hoped to vote on the proposal at their meeting tomorrow, but Ross said the law still was being tweaked.
Among the changes to the ordinance being considered are a provision ensuring a low-cost certification option for small, established cleaning companies, and a provision adding a requirement that cleaners notify the city in case a portion of a ventilation system could not be cleaned.
