BILL ANALYSIS
AB 1020
Page 1
CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS
AB 1020 (Emmerson and Ma)
As Amended August 17, 2009
Majority vote
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|ASSEMBLY: |74-1 |(June 2, 2009) |SENATE: |28-0 |(September 1, |
| | | | | |2009) |
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Original Committee Reference: HEALTH
SUMMARY : Conforms state law to recently enacted federal pool
safety standards by requiring a public swimming pool, as
defined, to be equipped with anti-entrapment devices or systems
that meet federal requirements. Authorizes the Department of
Public Health (DPH) to assess a fee of up to $6 for state and
local enforcement.
The Senate amendments :
1)Require the California Building Standards Commission to
publish the public swimming pool requirements enacted by this
bill in the California Code of Regulations.
2)Remove a requirement that DPH file a regulation with the
Secretary of State when it adopts a new or revised standard.
3)Authorize local licensing authorities to take disciplinary
action against qualified individuals who falsely certify that
a public swimming pool meets safety standards.
4)Delete a provision allowing local health departments (LHDs) to
assess a fee to cover the costs of enforcing this bill, and
instead allow LHDs to retain up to $1 of the fee assessed by
DPH in order to cover the cost of administration of the fee.
Require the LHDs to collect the fees and transmit them to the
State Controller, for deposit into the Recreational Health
Fund (Fund). Prohibit the redirection of money in the Fund
for any other purpose.
5)Make other technical and clarifying changes.
EXISTING LAW requires:
AB 1020
Page 2
1)Under the federal Virginia Graeme Baker (VGB) Act, beginning
December 19, 2008, every public pool and spa to have an
approved anti-entrapment drain cover. Requires a public pool
or spa with a single main drain (other than an unblockable
drain) to have a device or system designed to prevent
entrapment.
2)DPH to enforce building standards related to public swimming
pools and to make and enforce regulations as it deems proper.
3)Local health officers to enforce DPH regulations and building
standards related to public swimming pools and to review plans
for proposed public swimming pools. Authorizes health
officers and DPH inspectors to enter all parts or premises of
public swimming pools to enforce compliance with State
Building Standards and Health and Safety Codes and DPH
regulations.
4)New and altered public wading pools to comply with specified
safety requirements to prevent physical entrapment or suction
injury.
AS PASSED BY THE ASSEMBLY, this bill was substantially similar
to the version approved by the Senate, except as noted above.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Senate Appropriations Committee
analysis, in fiscal years 2010-11 and 2011-12, annual
fee-supported special fund costs to DPH of $250,000 for staffing
and to establish regulations and $150,000 to support a public
education campaign; and provide $80,000 for local enforcement,
and $400,000 in fee revenues to DPH. Additional unknown local
enforcements costs, likely to be hundreds of thousands or
millions of dollars, offset by an increase in local fees.
COMMENTS : According to the author, drowning is the second
leading cause of accidental death among children ages one to
fourteen in the United States (U.S.). The author reports that
from 1997-2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC) received reports of 74 entrapment incidents that resulted
in nine fatalities and 63 injuries; 54 of these incidents
involved children age fourteen and under. Entrapment can occur
when a person's body attaches to a drain or vacuum line due to
the suction of the water circulation system of a pool or spa, or
AB 1020
Page 3
a limb is inserted or caught in a drain with a broken or missing
cover. The author states this bill is needed because California
law is not consistent with new federal safety standards which
require public pools and spas to have federally-approved
anti-entrapment drain covers, whereas current state law requires
only that wading pools, new pools, or pools being renovated have
these covers. Existing state law is also inconsistent with the
federal requirements for the device or system designed to
prevent entrapment, such as a safety vacuum release system. In
addition, the author states the new federal standards will be
enforced by local health jurisdictions; however, enforcement is
not consistent throughout California, with some local health
jurisdictions stating that the federal standards cannot be
enforced at the local level until state law is amended. This
bill adopts the federal standards and allows local health
officers to enforce the requirements.
CPSC estimates that nationally from 2005 to 2007, an average of
2,700 children per year were treated in emergency departments
for pool submersions. About 39% of these injuries were serious
enough to require hospitalization. In California in 2006,
according to the DPH EPICenter, 89 children age fourteen and
under drowned unintentionally. Another 279 children age
fourteen and under were hospitalized for submersions or
near-drownings; 257 of those children were under ten. Although
most submersion incidents are not fatal, many result in lifelong
disability. The proportion of submersions attributable to
circulation entrapments is unknown.
The California Apartment Association and news media report a
lack of consistency across the state in how to comply with the
VGB Act, leading to pool closures.
Analysis Prepared by : Allegra Kim / HEALTH / (916) 319-2097
FN: 0002406