BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 470
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB
470 (Chu)
As Amended August 2, 2016
Majority vote
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|ASSEMBLY: | |(June 3, 2015) |SENATE: | 38-0 |(August 15, |
| | | | | |2016) |
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(Vote not relevant)
Original Committee Reference: HUM. S.
SUMMARY: This bill requires newly constructed or remodeled
swimming pools or spas at private single-family residences to
incorporate at least two of seven specified drowning prevention
safety features. It also requires home inspections conducted as
part of the transfer of a property with a pool or spa to include
an assessment of whether the pool is equipped with adequate
drowning prevention features.
The Senate amendments delete the Assembly version of this bill,
and instead:
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1)Make findings regarding the prevalence of drowning as a cause
of death among young children in California, the potential for
lasting brain injuries as a result of near-drowning incidents,
the effectiveness of pool barriers as a means of preventing
drowning, and the importance of informing the public of the
risks posed by swimming pools and of reducing those risks by
promoting the installation of drowning-prevention features.
2)Require that when a pool or spa at a private, single-family
residence is constructed or remodeled, at least two of the
drowning prevention features described in existing law must be
installed.
3)Specify that a pool alarm includes devices that use a verbal
warning (e.g., a repeating notification that "the door to the
pool is open") as well as devices that use an alarm noise.
4)Require that when a property with a pool or spa is
transferred:
a) The home inspection must include a physical examination
of the pool or spa to determine which, if any, of the seven
drowning prevention features described in existing law it
is equipped with.
b) The home inspection report must identify which of these
drowning prevention features the pool or spa is equipped
with and specifically state if fewer than two are
installed.
5)Repeal the exemption in existing law for pools in
jurisdictions that adopt more stringent swimming pool safety
standards.
6)Authorize the state to reimburse local agencies and school
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districts if the Commission on State Mandates finds that this
bill imposes mandatory costs on local government entities.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown
COMMENTS:
Background: California's original Pool Safety Act (AB 3305
(Speier), Chapter 925, Statutes of 1996), went into effect on
January 1, 1997, and applies to structures intended for swimming
or recreational bathing containing water over 18 inches deep,
including spas and wading pools. The Act required all new
swimming pools constructed at private, single-family homes be
equipped with either a permanent fence; a pool cover meeting
certain safety standards; exit alarms or self-closing,
self-latching devices on all doors providing access to the pool;
or another safety feature providing as least as much protection
as the specified four. The Act was amended in 2006 (AB 2977
(Mullin), Chapter 478, Statutes of 2006) to reflect the
availability of two additional drowning prevention features:
Removable mesh fencing and pool alarms that sound when a person
enters the water. The 2006 amendment also expanded the scope of
the law to include pools that undergo a remodel requiring a
building permit.
Neither the existing Act nor this bill applies to public
swimming pools, swimming pools at apartment complexes, or hot
tubs with locking safety covers meeting specified standards.
They also do not apply to facilities regulated by the California
Department of Social Services (CDSS) that are also the private
residence of the operator. Pool safety in those facilities is
regulated by the CDSS.
Need for this bill: According to the author:
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"Unintentional injuries are the leading cause of death and
hospitalizations for California's children and youth ages one
to 19, and the leading cause of death for babies and infants
under the age of one. Of the eight leading causes of
childhood unintentional injury, drowning continues to be the
leading cause of death for children ages one to four,
according to data released from the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention and the California Department of Health
EPIcenter. In California, for every drowning death of a one
to four year-old, it is estimated that there are as many as
five other nonfatal submersion injuries, which lead to
emergency room visits. Fifty percent of these incidents lead
to hospitalization due to brain injury and many children
suffer severe brain damage that may result in long-term
disabilities. Residential pool drowning incidents are
preventable but many existing pools are still not covered by
the state's Pool Safety Act because the pool was built before
the Act was passed, has not been retrofitted since the passage
of the Act, or because compliance with the Act was not part of
the home inspection when a home with a pool was sold."
This bill addresses deficiencies in California's existing Pool
Safety Act. Specifically, it makes the following changes to
existing law:
1)Increases the number of drowning prevention features required
under the Act from one to two;
2)Requires home inspectors, when a property is transferred, to
inspect pools and spas and include in the inspection report
whether the pool or spa is equipped with at least two drowning
prevention features;
3)Expands the types of pool door alarms that qualify as a
drowning-prevention feature under the Act.
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4)Repeals the exemption in existing law for pools in
jurisdictions that adopt more stringent swimming pool safety
standards.
The International Building Code and most states require
residential pools to have only one drowning prevention feature.
The author notes that unintentional injury prevention and public
health advocates support the use of two drowning prevention
features. The primary rationale for this position is that a
single safety feature may malfunction or become disabled. For
instance, pool entry alarms can be put into "sleep" mode when
the pool is in use, and removable fencing is, as the name
suggests, removable. Similarly, door alarms may run out of
batteries, and latches may break. A second safety feature would
provide "backup" to busy families that forget to replace an
alarm or a removable fence, or who cannot immediately fix a
malfunctioning latch or alarm.
Staff comment:
This bill seeks to increase the number of required drowning
prevention features for pools and spas at private single-family
homes from one to two, and imposes changes to the building
permit process, as well as the home buying process, to
accomplish this. The safety measures referenced in this bill
encompass both low- and high-cost features, and it is worth
noting that the costs are triggered by elective expenditures
involved with building or remodeling an existing pool or spa.
An earlier version of this bill attempted to extend the Act's
protections by requiring pools to be brought into compliance at
the time of a property sale. In response to concerns cited by
the California Association of Realtors, the author took
amendments to remove this requirement. Rather than making
pre-1997 pools comply with the Act when they are sold, the
current version of the bill imposes minor changes to the
existing home inspection process intended to inform prospective
home buyers whether a property's pool is equipped with drowning
prevention features that meet the standards in current law.
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These amendments make use of the point-of-sale as an educational
opportunity without imposing additional requirements on pool
owners.
Existing law provides an exemption from the Act for local
governments that adopt more stringent pool safety requirements.
This bill removes that long-standing exemption. Local
governments would still be free to adopt their own pool safety
ordinances, but any requirements they imposed would be
additional to the requirements in state law rather than a
substitute for them. Local governments would not be constrained
from adopting more stringent pool safety policies, but they
would face a disincentive to developing policies that differ
strongly from the state's approach.
As passed by the Assembly, this bill would have required the
development of protocols to expedite the criminal background
check process for In-Home Supportive Services providers. This
bill was substantially amended in the Senate and the
Assembly-approved version of this bill was deleted. This bill,
as amended in the Senate, has not been heard in an Assembly
policy committee.
Related legislation:
AB 2425 (Brown) of the current legislative session: Requires
the State Department of Public Health to develop standards for
collecting data from unintentional injury incidents involving
children, including drownings. This bill is pending hearing in
the Senate Health Committee.
AB 299 (Brown) of 2015: Would have required the State
Department of Public Health to create a submersion incident
report form including information on key attributes of drowning
events, including barrier types in use. This bill was held on
suspense in Assembly Appropriations.
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Analysis Prepared by:
Rebecca Rabovsky / H. & C.D. / (916) 319-2085
FN:
0004397