(Iowa Capital Dispatch) Radon mitigation systems would be a requirement of Iowa building code for newly constructed homes under a bill passed Thursday by the Iowa House.
Supporters of the bill said it’s a step toward protecting Iowans from the cancer-causing gas that is often found in basements.
Radon is a naturally occurring, radioactive gas that is emitted during the breakdown of soil and rock. The gas can seep into houses through the foundation and is the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Radon mitigation systems would be a requirement of Iowa building code for newly constructed homes under a bill passed Thursday by the Iowa House.
Supporters of the bill said it’s a step toward protecting Iowans from the cancer-causing gas that is often found in basements.
Radon is a naturally occurring, radioactive gas that is emitted during the breakdown of soil and rock. The gas can seep into houses through the foundation and is the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
House File 2297 would apply to all new single- and two-family residences by requiring the state building code commissioner to adopt radon mitigation as part of state building code.
Rep. Hans Wilz, R-Ottumwa, said the bill is “yet another opportunity to combat cancer rates in the state of Iowa.”
“This bill will attack the radon issue on the front end with new home construction,” Wilz said. “This will just bring the entire industry up to speed for prevention of radon in our homes.”
HF 2297 is one of several bills related to radon mitigation that Wilz has worked to pass. The House passed a bill in 2025 to provide tax credits to Iowans for the purchase and installation of radon mitigation systems and to require mitigation in new construction, but the Senate did not hold hearings on the bill.
An EPA map shows all 99 counties in Iowa have a “zone 1” designation, meaning they have the “highest potential” for high indoor radon measurements.
Rep. Austin Baeth, D-Des Moines, spoke in favor of the bill and said it’s “not every day that we pass bills that will directly save people’s lives.”
“It just makes sense that when we have a common enemy of cancer lurking in our state that we unite in a bipartisan fashion to fight it,” Baeth said.
According to the Iowa Cancer Consortium, lung cancer from radon exposure results in about 400 deaths in Iowa each year. Iowa continues to have some of the highest rates of new cancers in the country.
Wilz said the bill is another way to show Iowans that the state is “serious about addressing the cancer rates.” He said the state’s rural health transformation plan, which mentions radon testing and mitigation, and research being done at the University of Iowa about the key drivers of cancer in the state, are other examples of the state acting on Iowa’s high cancer rates.
The bill passed with a vote of 87-4. Republican Reps. Mark Cisneros, Zach Dieken, Judd Lawler and Charley Thomson voted against the measure.
Radon mitigation systems would be required in new homes under a House-passed bill. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
