| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the sanitation and safety requirements for certain |
|
|
artificial bodies of water maintained for public recreational |
|
|
purposes. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. The heading to Section 341.064, Health and |
|
|
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 341.064. SWIMMING POOLS, ARTIFICIAL SWIMMING LAGOONS, |
|
|
AND BATHHOUSES. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Sections 341.064(a), (b), (c), (e), (f), (g), |
|
|
(i), (j), (k), (l-1), (m), (n), and (o), Health and Safety Code, are |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) An owner, manager, operator, or other attendant in |
|
|
charge of a public swimming pool or an artificial swimming lagoon |
|
|
shall maintain the public swimming pool or artificial swimming |
|
|
lagoon in a sanitary condition. |
|
|
(b) The bacterial content of the water in a public swimming |
|
|
pool or in an artificial swimming lagoon may not exceed the safe |
|
|
limits prescribed by department standards. A minimum free |
|
|
residual chlorine of 2.0 parts for each one million units of water |
|
|
in a public spa and a minimum free residual chlorine of 1.0 part for |
|
|
each one million units of water in other public swimming pools or in |
|
|
artificial swimming lagoons, or any other method of disinfectant |
|
|
approved by the department, must be maintained in a public swimming |
|
|
pool in use or in an artificial swimming lagoon in use. |
|
|
(c) Water in a public swimming pool or in an artificial |
|
|
swimming lagoon [open to the public] may not show an acid reaction |
|
|
to a standard pH test. |
|
|
(e) Facilities shall be provided in a public swimming pool |
|
|
or in an artificial swimming lagoon for adequate protection of |
|
|
bathers against sputum contamination. |
|
|
(f) A person known to be or suspected of being infected with |
|
|
a transmissible condition of a communicable disease shall be |
|
|
excluded from a public swimming pool and from an artificial |
|
|
swimming lagoon. |
|
|
(g) The construction and appliances of a public swimming |
|
|
pool and of an artificial swimming lagoon must be such as to reduce |
|
|
to a practical minimum the possibility of drowning or of injury to |
|
|
bathers. The construction after September 4, 1945, of a public |
|
|
swimming pool or the construction after September 1, 2017, of an |
|
|
artificial swimming lagoon must conform to good public health |
|
|
engineering practices. |
|
|
(i) Dressing rooms of a public swimming pool or of an |
|
|
artificial swimming lagoon shall contain shower facilities. |
|
|
(j) A comb or hairbrush used by two or more persons may not |
|
|
be permitted or distributed in a bathhouse of a public swimming pool |
|
|
or of an artificial swimming lagoon. |
|
|
(k) The operator or manager of a public swimming pool or of |
|
|
an artificial swimming lagoon shall provide adequate and proper |
|
|
approved facilities for the disposal of human excreta by the |
|
|
bathers. |
|
|
(l-1) Rules adopted under this chapter may not prohibit the |
|
|
consumption of food or beverages in a public swimming pool or in an |
|
|
artificial swimming lagoon that is privately owned and operated. |
|
|
(m) In this section: |
|
|
(1) "Artificial swimming lagoon" means an artificial |
|
|
body of water open to the public for recreational purposes with more |
|
|
than 20,000 square feet of surface area, an artificial liner, and a |
|
|
disinfection system. The term includes only the portion of the body |
|
|
of water that is designated for swimming. The term does not include |
|
|
a body of water open to the public that continuously recirculates |
|
|
water from a spring or river. |
|
|
(2) "Public[, "public] swimming pool" means an |
|
|
artificial body of water, including a spa, maintained expressly for |
|
|
public recreational purposes, swimming and similar aquatic sports, |
|
|
or therapeutic purposes. The term does not include an artificial |
|
|
swimming lagoon. |
|
|
(n) A county or municipality may: |
|
|
(1) require that the owner or operator of a public |
|
|
swimming pool or of an artificial swimming lagoon within the |
|
|
jurisdiction of the county or municipality obtain a permit for |
|
|
operation of the public swimming pool or artificial swimming |
|
|
lagoon; |
|
|
(2) inspect a public swimming pool or an artificial |
|
|
swimming lagoon within the jurisdiction of the county or |
|
|
municipality for compliance with this section; and |
|
|
(3) impose and collect a reasonable fee in connection |
|
|
with a permit or inspection required under this subsection provided |
|
|
the following are met: |
|
|
(A) the auditor for the county shall review the |
|
|
program every two years to ensure that the fees imposed do not |
|
|
exceed the cost of the program; and |
|
|
(B) the county refunds the permit holders any |
|
|
revenue determined by the auditor to exceed the cost of the program. |
|
|
(o) A county or municipality may by order close, for the |
|
|
period specified in the order, a public swimming pool or an |
|
|
artificial swimming lagoon within the jurisdiction of the county or |
|
|
municipality if the operation of the public swimming pool or |
|
|
artificial swimming lagoon violates this section or a permitting or |
|
|
inspection requirement imposed by the county or municipality under |
|
|
Subsection (n). |
|
|
SECTION 3. Section 341.0645(a), Health and Safety Code, is |
|
|
amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(a) An owner, manager, operator, or other attendant in |
|
|
charge of a public swimming pool as defined by Section 341.064, |
|
|
wading pool, baby pool, hot tub, in-ground spa, water park, spray |
|
|
fountain, or other artificial body of water typically used for |
|
|
recreational swimming, bathing, or play shall comply with pool |
|
|
safety standards adopted under this section. |
|
|
SECTION 4. Section 481.134(a), Health and Safety Code, is |
|
|
amended by adding Subdivision (4-a) to read as follows: |
|
|
(4-a) "Public swimming pool" has the meaning assigned |
|
|
by Section 341.064. |
|
|
SECTION 5. As soon as practicable after the effective date |
|
|
of this Act, the executive commissioner of the Health and Human |
|
|
Services Commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement the |
|
|
changes in law made by this Act. |
|
|
SECTION 6. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
|
|
an offense committed on or after the effective date of this Act. An |
|
|
offense committed before the effective date of this Act is governed |
|
|
by the law in effect on the date the offense was committed, and the |
|
|
former law is continued in effect for that purpose. For purposes of |
|
|
this section, an offense was committed before the effective date of |
|
|
this Act if any element of the offense occurred before that date. |
|
|
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017. |