Bill Text: TX HB1468 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Comm Sub
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to the sanitation and safety requirements for certain artificial bodies of water maintained for public recreational purposes.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-15 - Effective immediately [HB1468 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB1468-Comm_Sub.html
Bill Title: Relating to the sanitation and safety requirements for certain artificial bodies of water maintained for public recreational purposes.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2017-06-15 - Effective immediately [HB1468 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-HB1468-Comm_Sub.html
By: Thompson of Harris (Senate Sponsor - Hancock) | H.B. No. 1468 | |
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 1, 2017; | ||
May 4, 2017, read first time and referred to Committee on Business & | ||
Commerce; May 11, 2017, reported adversely, with favorable | ||
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 0; | ||
May 11, 2017, sent to printer.) | ||
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 1468 | By: Hancock |
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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 [ |
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(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" [ |
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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 | ||
therapeutics 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 [ |
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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. | ||
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