H.B. No. 1468
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. Section 1.005, Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1.005. DEFINITIONS [DEFINITION]. In this code:
(1) "Artificial swimming lagoon" means an artificial
body of water used for recreational purposes with more than 20,000
square feet of surface area, an artificial liner, and a method of
disinfectant. The term does not include a body of water open to the
public that continuously recirculates water from a spring or a
pool.
(2) "Licensed practitioner" [, "licensed
practitioner"] includes a sex offender treatment provider who is
licensed under Chapter 110, Occupations Code.
(3) "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 or a body of water open to the public that
continuously recirculates water from a spring.
SECTION 2. 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 3. Section 341.064, Health and Safety Code, is
amended by amending Subsections (a), (b), (c), (e), (f), (g), (i),
(j), (k), (l-1), (n), and (o) and adding Subsection (b-1) 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.
(b-1) The department shall approve or reject a request to
use another method of disinfectant under Subsection (b) not later
than the 90th day after the date the request was made. If the
department does not approve or reject the method in accordance with
this subsection, the person who made the request may file an action
to compel the department to approve or reject the method or to show
good cause for an extension of time to make a determination. Venue
for an action brought under this subsection is Travis County.
(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
artificial swimming lagoon that is privately owned and operated.
(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 4. 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, 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 relevant pool safety standards adopted under this
section.
SECTION 5. Section 341.064(m), Health and Safety Code, is
repealed.
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 immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2017.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1468 was passed by the House on April
27, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 141, Nays 3, 3 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 1468 on May 21, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 133, Nays 7,
2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1468 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 19, 2017, by the following vote: Yeas 27, Nays
4.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor