By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 96
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to swimming pool and spa safety.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 9, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 761 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 761. SWIMMING POOL AND SPA SAFETY BARRIERS AND ENTRAPMENT
AVOIDANCE
Sec. 761.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "ASME/ANSI" means a standard that is accredited by
the American National Standards Institute and published by the
American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
(2) "ASTM" means a standard that is accredited by the
American Society For Testing and Materials.
(3) "Barrier" includes:
(A) a natural or constructed topographical
feature that prevents unauthorized access by children to a swimming
pool or spa;
(B) for a hot tub, a lockable cover; and
(C) a manual cover that meets all requirements of
the ASTM Specifications F1346-91 "Standard Performance
Specification for Safety Covers and Labeling Requirements for All
Covers for Swimming Pools, Spas and Hot Tubs."
(4) "Executive commissioner" means the executive
commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.
(5) "Main drain" means a submerged suction outlet
typically located at the bottom of a swimming pool or spa to
transfer water from the swimming pool or spa to a recirculating
pump.
(6) "Safety vacuum release system" means a vacuum
release system capable of providing vacuum release at a suction
outlet caused by a high vacuum occurrence due to a flow blockage.
(7) "Swimming pool or spa" means any outdoor or indoor
structure intended for swimming or recreational bathing, including
inground and aboveground structures. The term includes nonportable
wading pools.
(8) "Unblockable drain" means a drain of any size and
shape that a human body cannot sufficiently block to create a
suction entrapment hazard.
Sec. 761.002. DRAIN STANDARD AND REQUIRED SAFETY EQUIPMENT.
(a) A swimming pool or spa drain installed or sold in this state on
or after September 1, 2009, must conform to the entrapment
protection standards of the ASME/ANSI Standard A112.19.8 "Suction
Fittings for Use in Swimming Pools, Wading Pools, Spas, and Hot
Tubs" or a successor standard regulating the swimming pool or spa
drain cover that is adopted by the executive commissioner, in
conjunction with the United States Consumer Product Safety
Commission, as being at least as stringent as the A112.19.8
performance standard.
(b) A swimming pool or spa installed or constructed on or
after September 1, 2009, in this state must:
(1) have one of the following:
(A) more than one drain;
(B) one or more unblockable drains; or
(C) no main drain; and
(2) at a minimum, be equipped with one or more of the
following devices or systems designed to prevent entrapment by
swimming pool or spa drains in accordance with the following
requirements:
(A) a safety vacuum release system that:
(i) is tested by an independent third
party;
(ii) stops operation of a pump, reverses
the circulation flow, or otherwise provides a vacuum release at a
blocked suction outlet; and
(iii) conforms to the ASME/ANSI Standard
A112.19.17 "Manufactured Safety Vacuum Release Systems (SVRS) for
Residential & Commercial Swimming Pool, Spa, Hot Tub, Wading Pool
Suction Systems" or a successor standard that is adopted by the
executive commissioner, in conjunction with the United States
Consumer Product Safety Commission, as being at least as stringent
as the A112.19.17 performance standard;
(B) a suction-limiting vent system with a
tamper-resistant atmospheric opening;
(C) a gravity drainage system that uses a
collector tank;
(D) an automatic pump shut-off system;
(E) a device or system that disables the drain;
or
(F) any other system determined by the executive
commissioner to be equally effective as, or better than, the
systems described in Paragraphs (A)-(E) at preventing or
eliminating the risk of injury or death associated with swimming
pool or spa drainage systems.
(c) A swimming pool or spa with a single main drain, other
than an unblockable drain, that is remodeled for purposes of repair
or improvement on or after September 1, 2009, must comply with the
requirements of Subsection (b).
(d) A residential swimming pool or spa constructed or
installed in this state on or after September 1, 2009, other than a
swimming pool governed by Chapter 757, must be enclosed by barriers
to entry designed to effectively prevent small children from
gaining unsupervised and unfettered access to the swimming pool or
spa.
(e) The executive commissioner shall adopt rules for
barriers consistent with the guidelines contained in:
(1) the United States Consumer Product Safety
Commission's publication 362 entitled "Safety Barrier Guidelines
for Home Pools";
(2) the United States Consumer Product Safety
Commission's March 2005 publication entitled "Guidelines for
Entrapment Hazards: Making Pools and Spas Safer"; and
(3) any other swimming pool and spa safety guidelines
established by the United States Consumer Product Safety
Commission.
(f) A person who sells, constructs, or installs a swimming
pool or spa in this state shall provide notice to a purchaser of a
swimming pool or spa of the applicable barrier requirements adopted
by the executive commissioner under Subsection (e).
Sec. 761.003. EDUCATION AND NOTIFICATION. The Department
of State Health Services shall conduct an education program to:
(1) periodically notify owners of swimming pools or
spas about the requirements of this chapter and any applicable
federal statute or safety standard; and
(2) inform the public of methods to prevent drowning
and entrapment in swimming pools and spas.
SECTION 2. Subsection (g), Section 341.064, Health and
Safety Code, is amended to read as follows:
(g) The construction and appliances of a public swimming
pool must be such as to reduce to a practical minimum the
possibility of drowning or of injury to bathers. The construction
after September 1, 2009 [4, 1945], of a public swimming pool must
comply with Chapter 761 and conform to good public health
engineering practices.
SECTION 3. Section 343.011, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows:
(c-1) A swimming pool barrier that satisfies the
requirements of Chapter 761 satisfies the requirements of
Subsection (c) with respect to a fence or cover for a swimming pool
for purposes of determining whether the swimming pool is a public
nuisance.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.