Bill Text: TX SB733 | 2017-2018 | 85th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the sanitation and safety requirements for certain artificial bodies of water maintained for public recreational purposes.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-04-11 - Left pending in committee [SB733 Detail]
Download: Texas-2017-SB733-Introduced.html
| 85R6683 JG-F | ||
| By: Hancock | S.B. No. 733 | |
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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. 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 [ |
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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 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. | ||
| (2) "Public[ |
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| 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. | ||
