BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 2114|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2114
Author: Smyth (R) and Hill (D)
Amended: 8/24/12 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 9-0, 6/20/12
AYES: Hernandez, Harman, Alquist, Anderson, Blakeslee, De
León, DeSaulnier, Rubio, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/10/12 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Swimming pool safety
SOURCE : California Spa & Pool Industry Education
Council
DIGEST : This bill replaces references to drains with
suction outlets in existing law, and updates references to
anti-entrapment performance standards for swimming pools
and spas.
Senate Floor Amendments of 8/24/12 codify existing
standards in the 2010 California Building Code relating to
the turnover time of pool water in any public swimming pool
that has a suction outlet in any location other than the
bottom of the pool. They additionally make technical
changes for clarification and consistency, and to avoid
chaptering conflicts with SB 1099 (Wright).
CONTINUED
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ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Establishes the Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC) under the federal Consumer Product Safety Act
(CPSA) to fulfill the CPSA's purposes of protecting the
public against unreasonable risks of injury associated
with consumer products, assisting consumers in
evaluating the comparative safety of consumer products,
developing uniform safety standards for consumer
products, and promoting research into the causes and
prevention of product-related deaths, illnesses, and
injuries.
2. Establishes the federal Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and
Spa Safety Act (VGB Act) to prevent drain entrapment and
child drowning in swimming pools and spas by requiring
each public pool and spa in the United States to be
equipped with specified anti-entrapment devices or
systems, and requires each state to meet specified
minimum state law requirements regarding pool and spa
safety standards.
3. Requires, pursuant to California's Swimming Pool Safety
Act and other statutes regarding swimming pool
sanitation, that public and private swimming pools and
spas be equipped with specified drowning prevention
safety features.
This bill:
1. Defines "ANSI/APSP performance standard" as a standard
that is accredited by the American National Standards
Institute (ANSI) and published by the Association of
Pool and Spa Professionals (APSP).
2. Replaces the terms "drain(s)" and "main drain(s)" with
"suction outlet(s)," and makes clarifying changes to the
definition.
3. Revises the definition of an "unblockable suction
outlet" to mean a suction outlet, including the sump,
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that has a perforated (open) area that cannot be
shadowed by the area of the 18 inch by 23 inch Body
Blocking Element of a specified ANSI/APSP performance
standard and that the rated flow through any portion of
the remaining open area cannot create a suction force in
excess of r
3. Deletes references in existing law to suction outlets
that are less than 12 inches and thereby applies
requirements for anti-entrapment grates to suction
outlets of all sizes.
4. Adds to requirements for newly constructed pools or spas
to include designs that use alternatives to suction
outlets such as skimmers or perimeter overflow systems,
and to stipulate that the circulation system must have
the capacity to provide a complete turnover of pool
water within the time defined by specified regulations.
5. Replaces references in existing law to the "American
Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)/ANSI A112.19.8
performance standard" with "ANSI/APSP-16 standard or
successor standards designated by the federal CPSC."
6. Requires public swimming pool that has a suction outlet
in any location other than on the bottom of the pool to
be designed so that the recirculation system has a
capacity to provide a complete turnover of pool water
within prescribed times based on the pool type, as
specified.
Background
Entrapment hazards . According to a 2010 CPSC memorandum on
reported circulation entrapment incidents associated with
swimming pools and spas, a total of 91 entrapment incidents
were reported to result in injury or death from 1999 to
2009. APSP defines five types of circulation entrapments:
limb entrapment occurs when a limb is sucked or inserted
into an open sump (the lowest point in a circulation system
where water is drained); evisceration/disembowelment occurs
when suction applied directly to the intestines such as
when a child sits on an open sump; hair entrapment occurs
when hair becomes caught in an outlet cover; mechanical
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entrapment occurs when articles of clothing, jewelry, or
appendages are caught in an outlet cover; and body
entrapment occurs when suction is applied to a large
portion of the body or limbs. Of the 91 incidents
reported, 75 percent of the victims were under the age of
fifteen with ages between five and nine being the largest
victim age category.
The VGB Act . CPSC reports on its website that in June
2002, Virginia Graeme Baker, a seven-year-old member of a
community swimming and diving team, drowned when she was
trapped under water by the powerful suction from a hot tub
drain; a faulty drain cover was blamed for her death. The
VGB Act, signed into law in December 2007, was designed to
prevent such entrapment events in pools and spas. The VGB
Act finds that of injury-related deaths, drowning is the
second leading cause of death in children ages 1 to 14 in
the United States, and that studies show that the
installation and proper use of barriers or fencing could
substantially reduce the number of childhood residential
swimming pool drownings and near drownings. Among other
provisions, the VGB Act requires each swimming pool or spa
drain cover manufactured, distributed, or entered into
commerce in the United States to comply with the entrapment
protection standards of the ASME/ANSI A112.19.8 performance
standard, or any successor standard, and for each public
pool and spa in the United States to be equipped with such
covers. According to CPSC's Web site, in July 2011, CPSC
approved ANSI/APSP-16 as the successor suction outlet cover
standard needed to comply with the VGB Act.
California law . Two sections of California law govern
safety standards for swimming pools and spas: the Swimming
Pool Safety Act, which applies to pools and spas in
residential, single-family homes, and separate statutes
that apply to public pools and spas and are administered by
the Department of Public Health (DPH). The California
Building Standards Commission is responsible for
California's building codes (Title 24 in the California
Code of Regulations), including those relating to swimming
pools and spas. The Title 24 regulatory proceeding for the
adoption of new building standards for public pools was
recently completed. According to the California Spa & Pool
Industry Education Council, during discussions, experts in
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swimming pool construction recommended that the term "main
drain" be eliminated; while this could not happen, since
the term exists in current law, the elimination of "main
drain" and related terms in statute will enable the
elimination of these terms from Title 24 during the
triennial revision of the building codes that will become
effective on January 1, 2014.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/27/12)
California Spa & Pool Industry Education Council (source)
Association of Regional Center Agencies
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy in California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : The California Spa & Pool Industry
Education Council, sponsor of this bill, states that the
sole purpose of this bill is to modernize building codes
governing the construction of swimming pool and spas, and
adds that there is nothing in this bill that requires an
owner of a public pool or residential pool to make any
changes to their pool or equipment. The Arc and United
Cerebral Palsy in California and the Association of
Regional Center Agencies, which represent people with
developmental disabilities, argue that efforts to improve
pool safety are critical for avoiding near drowning
accidents that cause severe brain injuries.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 73-0, 5/10/12
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Atkins, Beall,
Bill Berryhill, Block, Blumenfield, Bonilla, Bradford,
Brownley, Buchanan, Butler, Charles Calderon, Campos,
Carter, Cedillo, Chesbro, Conway, Davis, Dickinson,
Donnelly, Eng, Feuer, Fong, Fuentes, Beth Gaines,
Galgiani, Garrick, Gatto, Gordon, Gorell, Grove, Hagman,
Halderman, Hall, Harkey, Hayashi, Roger Hernández, Hill,
Huber, Hueso, Huffman, Jones, Knight, Lara, Logue, Bonnie
Lowenthal, Ma, Mansoor, Mendoza, Miller, Mitchell,
Monning, Morrell, Nestande, Nielsen, Pan, Perea,
Portantino, Silva, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Swanson,
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Torres, Valadao, Wagner, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
John A. Pérez
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cook, Fletcher, Furutani, Jeffries,
Norby, Olsen, V. Manuel Pérez
CTW:d 8/27/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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