BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2114
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 17, 2012
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS, PROFESSIONS AND CONSUMER
PROTECTION
Mary Hayashi, Chair
AB 2114 (Smyth and Hill) - As Amended: April 9, 2012
SUBJECT : Swimming pool safety.
SUMMARY : Makes numerous technical updates to state law
governing safety standards for swimming pools and spas.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Defines "ANSI/APSP performance standard" to mean a standard
that is accredited by the American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) and published by the Association of Pool and
Spa Professionals (APSP).
2)Defines "suction outlet" to mean a fitting or fixture
typically located at the bottom or on the sides of a swimming
pool that conducts water to a recirculating pump.
3)Deletes references to suction outlets that are less than 12
inches across.
4)Updates references to specified American Society for
Mechanical Engineering (ASME)/ANSI standards to instead refer
to specified ANSI/APSP standards or successor standard
designated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
5)Deletes the definition of "main drain" and replaces all
references to "main drain" with "circulation system" or
"suction outlet."
6)Changes the definition of "unblockable drain" to "unblockable
suction outlet," and defines that term to mean a suction
outlet, including the sump, that has a perforated (open) area
that cannot be shadowed by the area of the 18 inch by 23 inch
Body Blocking Element of the ANSI/APSP-16 performance
standard, and that the rated flow through any portion of the
remaining open area cannot create a suction force in excess of
the removal force values in Table 1 of that standard.
7)Deletes a reference to "pool drainage system" and replaces it
with "the circulation system of the pool and suction outlets."
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8)Deletes a reference to "split main drain" and replaces it with
"suction outlet or multiple suction outlets," as specified.
9)Makes additional technical and conforming changes.
EXISTING LAW
1)Establishes, pursuant to federal law, the United States
Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), which authorizes the CPSC
to develop standards to reduce or eliminate risk for products
when it finds an unreasonable risk of injury associated with
the product. The CPSC enforces the federal Virginia Graeme
Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act (VGB Act).
2)Requires, pursuant to the VGB Act, all public pools and spas
to have anti-entrapment systems, as specified.
3)Requires, pursuant to California's Swimming Pool Safety Act
(Act) and separate statutes governing public pool sanitation,
that public and private swimming pools and spas have specified
drowning prevention features or anti-entrapment systems, and
provides various terms and definitions for purposes of these
statutes.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author, "This bill would
define the term "suction outlet" as a fitting or fixture,
located at or near the bottom of a pool that conducts water to a
recirculating pump. In addition, this bill will eliminate the
terms "drain" and "main drains" and substitute the term "suction
outlet." This is a purely technical bill. It does not change
any requirements under current law for either a public or
residential pool. The reason to eliminate references to
"drains" or "main drains" is to allow new building codes to be
updated to reflect the proper technology. As long as the terms
"drain" and "main drain" are in statute, the building codes
cannot be properly updated.
"Current law is inconsistent, out of date, and technologically
flawed. As indicated above, current law uses the terms drains,
main drain and suction outlet. The terms drain or main drain is
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a misnomer. Pools cannot be emptied from the main drain that
can only work if the pool is situated above ground level.
In-ground pools cannot be drained from the main drain. Pool
service professionals use a sump pump to empty pools as the
circulation pump cannot fully empty a pool. Lastly, suction
entrapment and evisceration deaths and injuries can be
eliminated completely by pools being built with multiple suction
outlets because all the outlets cannot be simultaneously
blocked, which results in suction entrapment."
Background . Two sections of California law govern safety
standards for swimming pools and spas: the Act, which applies to
pools and spas in residential, single-family dwellings, and
separate statutes governing public pool and spas, which are
administered by the Department of Public Health (DPH).
The California Building Standards Commission (CBSC) is
responsible for the administration of California's building
codes (Title 24 in the California Code of Regulation), which
includes the adoption, approval, publication, and implementation
of codes and standards. The codes are published on a triennial
basis, with supplements and errata issued throughout the cycle,
and include building standards for public pools.
The sponsor of this measure, the California Spa & Pool Industry
Education Council, explains that regulations governing public
pool building standards in Title 24 have just been updated for
the first time in nearly 20 years. They go into effect on July
1, 2012. During discussions on the proposed new building
standards last year, the industry suggested updating terms like
"drain(s) and main drain" that are not accurate and are out of
date. This could not be accomplished last year, as those terms
are used in statute. AB 2114 would resolve this discrepancy and
allow Title 24 to be updated in the next regulatory cycle that
begins in June of this year for new building code regulations
that will become effective on January 1, 2014.
The sponsor explains the need for several of the bill's
provisions as follows:
The most recent ANSI/APSP standard for pool safety is not
included in the statute and needs to be defined. Likewise,
the term "suction outlet" is not defined in statute - the
definition in this bill comes from the CPSC. Both definitions
should be included in the definition sections governing the
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requirements for private/residential pools as well as those
for public pools.
ASME/ANSI Standard A 112.19.8, which is used in current
statute, has been replaced at the federal level by
ANSI/APSP-16. This bill revises the statute to reflect the
new standard and include language on successor standards
developed by CPSC. This change will obviate the need for
statutory changes as CPSC updates pool safety standards.
Deleting a reference to suction outlets that are less than 12
inches across conforms the statute with federal law, since all
drains/suction outlets must meet federal standards and suction
outlets less than 12 inches do not meet that standard and are
no longer on the market.
The term "unblockable suction outlet" is not defined in
statute. It should be included in the section governing the
requirements for public pools. The term does not appear in
the statutes governing private/residential pool requirements.
The CPSC has defined unblockable drain/suction outlet via
federal regulation, which is used in this bill.
The VGB Act, which went into effect in 2008, was designed to
prevent entrapments and eviscerations in pools and spas. It was
named after a seven-year old girl who drowned in a hot tub after
being trapped underwater by the suction from the hot tub's
circulation outlet. Under the law, all public pools and spas
must have specified drain covers and anti-entrapment systems.
The Division of Drinking Water and Environmental Management
within DPH is responsible for coordinating services and
activities pertaining to the safe use of public swimming pools
and other recreational water venues in California. DPH
estimates that there are approximately 80,000 public swimming
pools throughout the state.
The CPSC is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable
risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of
consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. In addition
to pool and spa safety, the CPSC is committed to protecting
consumers and families from products that pose a fire,
electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard. The CPSC has
published "Guidelines for Entrapment Hazards: Making Pools and
Spas Safer" to provide safety information that will help
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identify and eliminate dangerous entrapment hazards in swimming
pools, wading pools, spas, and hot tubs. They address the
hazards of body entrapment, hair entrapment/entanglement, and
evisceration/disembowelment. The guidelines are intended for
use in building, maintaining, and upgrading public and private
pools and spas, and are based on information assembled by the
CPSC from many sources, including the APSP, the National
Swimming Pool Foundation (NSPF), swimming pool and spa equipment
suppliers and maintenance firms, state health officials, and
voluntary standards organizations.
Previous legislation .
AB 1020 (Emmerson and Ma), Chapter 267, Statute of 2009,
conforms state law to federal pool safety standards by requiring
public swimming pools to be equipped with anti-entrapment
devices or systems that meet federal requirements. This bill
also requires the CBSC to publish the text of the Act and
specified provisions of state law governing safety standards for
public pools within the California Building Standards Code, as
specified.
SB 107 (Alquist), Chapter 335, Statutes of 2008, requires a wave
pool operator to comply with specified safety requirements,
including the use of life vests, assignment of lifeguards, wave
action suspense procedures, and requirements that children under
42 inches in height be accompanied by a parent.
AB 2977 (Mullin), Chapter 478, Statutes of 2006, enacts the Act,
which expands prescribed safety features that should be
installed in private, residential swimming pools, and on all
doors of the residence providing direct access to the pool, as
specified.
SB 1726 (Vasconcellos), Chapter 679, Statutes of 2002, requires,
whenever a construction permit is issued for the construction of
a new private swimming pool or spa, that the suction outlet of
the pool or spa meet specified standards, including having at
least two main drains per pump, set at least three feet apart,
as specified.
AB 2455, (Negrete McLeod) of 2002 requires, whenever a
construction permit is issued for construction of a new swimming
pool or spa, or a building permit is issued for the remodeling
of an existing pool or spa at a private, single family home,
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that the swimming pool or spa be equipped with at least two
specified drowning prevention safety features. This bill was
held in Senate Appropriations Committee.
AB 359 (Cardoza) of 2001 requires the State Department of Health
Services to adopt regulations, on or before December 31, 2002,
that provide standards for protection against entrapment in
swimming pools and spas and subjects the regulations to the
review and approval of the CBSC. This bill was held in Senate
Health and Human Services Committee.
AB 873 (Vasconcellos), Chapter 913, Statutes of 1997, requires
public wading pools to have specified characteristics to prevent
entrapment and suction injuries, and expands existing law to
require all pre-1975 public swimming pools to be retrofitted
with ground fault circuit interrupters.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Spa & Pool Industry Education Council (sponsor)
Association of Regional Center Agencies
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Angela Mapp / B.,P. & C.P. / (916)
319-3301