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