HB 963

1
A bill to be entitled
2An act relating to swimming pool and spa safety; amending
3s. 514.011, F.S.; providing definitions; creating s.
4514.0215, F.S.; requiring public swimming pools and public
5spas to have specified drain safety features; providing
6that any person or entity that violates the requirement to
7install the safety features commits a misdemeanor of the
8second degree; providing criminal penalties; providing for
9a suspension of criminal penalties under certain
10circumstances; amending s. 515.25, F.S.; providing
11definitions; creating s. 515.295, F.S.; requiring all
12residential swimming pools and spas to be equipped with
13certain specified drain safety features; requiring
14residential pools and spas built after a specified date to
15have certain features; requiring all residential pools and
16spas with a certain type of drain to have a drain cover
17meeting specified safety standards; requiring the
18Department of Health to provide periodic notice to owners
19of swimming pools and spas of safety standards and other
20requirements; requiring the department to apply for and
21implement a federal grant for enforcing swimming pool
22safety standards; requiring the Department of Health, the
23Department of Community Affairs, and the Florida Building
24Commission to assess state statutes and the Florida
25Building Code to determine if changes are needed to comply
26with federal standards pertaining to swimming pool and spa
27safety; requiring the Department of Health to present the
28assessment to the Legislature by a specified date;
29providing an effective date.
30
31Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
32
33     Section 1.  Section 514.011, Florida Statutes, is amended
34to read:
35     514.011  Definitions.--As used in this chapter, the term:
36     (1)  "ASME/ANSI" as applied to a safety standard means a
37standard that is accredited by the American National Standards
38Institute and published by the American Society of Mechanical
39Engineers.
40     (2)  "Barrier" means a natural or constructed topographical
41feature that prevents unpermitted access by children to a
42swimming pool, and, with respect to a hot tub, a lockable cover.
43     (3)(1)  "Department" means the Department of Health.
44     (4)  "Main drain" means a submerged suction outlet
45typically located at the bottom of a swimming pool or spa to
46conduct water to a recirculating pump.
47     (5)(2)  "Public swimming pool" or "public pool" means a
48watertight structure of concrete, masonry, or other approved
49materials which is located either indoors or outdoors, used for
50bathing or swimming by humans, and filled with a filtered and
51disinfected water supply, together with buildings,
52appurtenances, and equipment used in connection therewith. A
53public swimming pool or public pool shall mean a conventional
54pool, spa-type pool, wading pool, special purpose pool, or water
55recreation attraction, to which admission may be gained with or
56without payment of a fee and includes, but is not limited to,
57pools operated by or serving camps, churches, cities, counties,
58day care centers, group home facilities for eight or more
59clients, health spas, institutions, parks, state agencies,
60schools, subdivisions, or the cooperative living-type projects
61of five or more living units, such as apartments,
62boardinghouses, hotels, mobile home parks, motels, recreational
63vehicle parks, and townhouses.
64     (6)(3)  "Private pool" means a facility used only by an
65individual, family, or living unit members and their guests
66which does not serve any type of cooperative housing or joint
67tenancy of five or more living units.
68     (7)(4)  "Public bathing place" means a body of water,
69natural or modified by humans, for swimming, diving, and
70recreational bathing, together with adjacent shoreline or land
71area, buildings, equipment, and appurtenances pertaining
72thereto, used by consent of the owner or owners and held out to
73the public by any person or public body, irrespective of whether
74a fee is charged for the use thereof. The bathing water areas of
75public bathing places include, but are not limited to, lakes,
76ponds, rivers, streams, artificial impoundments, and waters
77along the coastal and intracoastal beaches and shores of the
78state.
79     (8)(5)  "Portable pool" means a pool or spa, and related
80equipment systems of any kind, which is designed or intended to
81be movable from location to location.
82     (9)  "Safety vacuum release system" means a vacuum release
83system capable of providing vacuum release at a suction outlet
84caused by a high vacuum occurrence due to a suction outlet flow
85blockage.
86     (10)  "Unblockable drain" means a drain of any size and
87shape which a human body cannot sufficiently block to create a
88suction-entrapment hazard.
89     Section 2.  Section 514.0215, Florida Statutes, is created
90to read:
91     514.0215  Public swimming pool and public spa drain-cover
92safety.--
93     (1)  Notwithstanding any other law, each public swimming
94pool and public spa in this state must be equipped with an anti-
95entrapment device or system that complies with the ASME/ANSI
96A112.19.8 performance standard, or any successor standard.
97     (2)  Notwithstanding any other law, each public swimming
98pool and public spa in this state having a single main drain
99other than an unblockable drain must be equipped, at a minimum,
100with one or more of the following devices or systems designed to
101prevent entrapment by the swimming pool or spa drain:
102     (a)  A safety vacuum release system that ceases operation
103of the pump, reverses the circulation flow, or otherwise
104provides a vacuum release at a suction outlet when a blockage is
105detected and that has been tested by an independent third party
106and found to conform to ASME/ANSI standard A112.19.17 or ASTM
107standard F2387.
108     (b)  A suction-limiting vent system that has a tamper-
109resistant atmospheric opening.
110     (c)  A gravity drainage system that uses a collector tank.
111     (d)  An automatic pump shut-off system.
112     (e)  A device or system that disables the drain.
113     (f)  Any other system determined by the department to be
114equally effective as, or better than, the systems described in
115this subsection at preventing or eliminating the risk of injury
116or death associated with swimming pool drainage systems.
117     (3)  Any device or system described in subsection (2) must
118meet the requirements of any ASME/ANSI or ASTM performance
119standard, if there is such a standard for such a device or
120system, or any applicable consumer product safety standard.
121     (4)  Any person or entity who violates this section commits
122a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s.
123775.082 or s. 775.083, except that no penalty shall be imposed
124if the person or entity, within 45 days after arrest or issuance
125of a summons or a notice to appear, has equipped the pool or spa
126with at least one safety device as required in this section.
127     Section 3.  Section 515.25, Florida Statutes, is amended to
128read:
129     515.25  Definitions.--As used in this chapter, the term:
130     (1)  "Approved safety pool cover" means a manually or
131power-operated safety pool cover that meets all of the
132performance standards of the American Society for Testing and
133Materials (ASTM) in compliance with standard F1346-91.
134     (2)  "ASME/ANSI" as applied to a safety standard means a
135standard that is accredited by the American National Standards
136Institute and published by the American Society of Mechanical
137Engineers.
138     (3)(2)  "Barrier" means a fence, dwelling wall, or
139nondwelling wall, or any combination thereof, which completely
140surrounds the swimming pool and obstructs access to the swimming
141pool, especially access from the residence or from the yard
142outside the barrier, and, with respect to a hot tub, a lockable
143cover.
144     (4)(3)  "Department" means the Department of Health.
145     (5)(4)  "Exit alarm" means a device that makes audible,
146continuous alarm sounds when any door or window which permits
147access from the residence to any pool area that is without an
148intervening enclosure is opened or left ajar.
149     (6)(5)  "Indoor swimming pool" means a swimming pool that
150is totally contained within a building and surrounded on all
151four sides by walls of or within the building.
152     (7)  "Main drain" means a submerged suction outlet
153typically located at the bottom of a swimming pool or spa to
154conduct water to a recirculating pump.
155     (8)(6)  "Medically frail elderly person" means any person
156who is at least 65 years of age and has a medical problem that
157affects balance, vision, or judgment, including, but not limited
158to, a heart condition, diabetes, or Alzheimer's disease or any
159related disorder.
160     (9)(7)  "Outdoor swimming pool" means any swimming pool
161that is not an indoor swimming pool.
162     (10)(8)  "Portable spa" means a nonpermanent structure
163intended for recreational bathing, in which all controls and
164water-heating and water-circulating equipment are an integral
165part of the product and which is cord-connected and not
166permanently electrically wired.
167     (11)(9)  "Public swimming pool" means a swimming pool, as
168defined in s. 514.011(5) s. 514.011(2), which is operated, with
169or without charge, for the use of the general public; however,
170the term does not include a swimming pool located on the grounds
171of a private residence.
172     (12)(10)  "Residential" means situated on the premises of a
173detached one-family or two-family dwelling or a one-family
174townhouse not more than three stories high.
175     (13)(11)  "Swimming pool" means any structure, located in a
176residential area, that is intended for swimming or recreational
177bathing and contains water over 24 inches deep, including, but
178not limited to, in-ground, aboveground, and on-ground swimming
179pools; hot tubs; and nonportable spas.
180     (14)  "Unblockable drain" means a drain of any size and
181shape which a human body cannot sufficiently block to create a
182suction-entrapment hazard.
183     (15)(12)  "Young child" means any person under the age of 6
184years.
185     Section 4.  Section 515.295, Florida Statutes, is created
186to read:
187     515.295  Residential swimming pool and spa drain-cover
188safety.--
189     (1)  Notwithstanding any other law, all residential
190swimming pools and spas in the state must be equipped with
191devices and systems designed to prevent entrapment by pool or
192spa drains. Such devices and systems must, at a minimum, include
193one or more of the following:
194     (a)  A safety vacuum release system that ceases operation
195of the pump, reverses the circulation flow, or otherwise
196provides a vacuum release at a suction outlet when a blockage is
197detected and that has been tested by an independent third party
198and found to conform to ASME/ANSI standard A112.19.17 or ASTM
199standard F2387.
200     (b)  A suction-limiting vent system that has a tamper-
201resistant atmospheric opening.
202     (c)  A gravity drainage system that uses a collector tank.
203     (d)  An automatic pump shut-off system.
204     (e)  A device or system that disables the drain.
205     (f)  Any other system determined by the department to be
206equally effective as, or better than, the systems described in
207this subsection at preventing or eliminating the risk of injury
208or death associated with swimming pool drainage systems.
209     (2)  Any device or system described in subsection (1) must
210meet the requirements of any ASME/ANSI or ASTM performance
211standard, if there is such a standard for such a device or
212system, or any applicable consumer product safety standard.
213     (3)  All residential pools and spas built after July 1,
2142009, must have:
215     (a)  More than one drain;
216     (b)  One or more unblockable drains; or
217     (c)  No main drain.
218     (4)  Every residential swimming pool and spa in the state
219that has a main drain, other than an unblockable drain, must be
220equipped with a drain cover that meets the consumer product
221safety standard established by s. 1404 of Title XIV of the
222federal Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
223     (5)  The department shall provide periodic notification to
224owners of residential swimming pools and spas about compliance
225with the entrapment-protection standards of the ASME/ANSI
226A112.19.8 performance standard, or a successor standard, as
227adopted in compliance with Title XIV of the federal Energy
228Independence and Security Act of 2007.
229     Section 5.  The Department of Health shall apply for and
230implement, if awarded, a federal grant for swimming pool and spa
231safety standards education and enforcement under the State
232Swimming Pool Safety Grant Program as established in s. 1405 of
233Title XIV of the federal Energy Independence and Security Act of
2342007. To ensure the state's eligibility for the grant award, the
235Department of Health, in coordination with the Department of
236Community Affairs and the Florida Building Commission, shall
237assess the Florida Statutes and the Florida Building Code to
238determine if additional changes are necessary to ensure
239compliance with federal standards regarding swimming pool and
240spa safety. The Department of Health shall provide the
241assessment to the Legislature by January 1, 2009.
242     Section 6.  This act shall take effect July 1, 2009.


CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.