Finally, the department will consult with the SPS 390 Advisory Committee to clarify language, and make any other revision, as needed, to bring Wisconsin’s administrative rules in alignment with current swimming pool and water attraction design and construction practices.
Without this rule revision, Wisconsin’s public swimming pool and water attraction rules might not remain consistent with nationally-recognized design and construction standards.
4. Detailed explanation of statutory authority for the rule (including the statutory citation and language):
101.02 (15) (j), Stats. – “The department shall ascertain, fix and order such reasonable standards or rules for constructing, altering, adding to, repairing, and maintaining public buildings and places of employment in order to render them safe.”
101.027 (2), Stats. – “The department shall review the energy conservation code and shall promulgate rules that change the requirements of the energy conservation code to improve energy conservation.”
145.02 (2)(a), Stats. – “The department shall have general supervision of all such plumbing and shall after public hearing prescribe and publish and enforce reasonable standards therefor which shall be uniform and of statewide concern so far as practicable. Any employee designated by the department may act for the department in holding the public hearing required under this subsection. To the extent that the historic building code applies to the subject matter of these standards, the standards do not apply to a qualified historic building if the owner elects to be subject to s. 101.121.” 145.26 (5), Stats. – “The department shall promulgate rules establishing all of the following:
(a) The definition of "water attraction".
(b) The amounts of fees to perform review of plans and specifications as specified in sub. (2).”
5. Estimate of amount of time that state employees will spend developing the rule and of other resources necessary to develop the rule:
This rule revision will take an estimated 600 hours, including reviewing current codes and related national standards, drafting the rule, consulting and meeting with the SPS 390 Advisory Committee and other rulemaking activities.
6. List with description of all entities that may be affected by the proposed rule:
This rule will affect any entity involved in the public swimming pool and water attraction industry in Wisconsin, including municipal governments, schools, colleges, universities, hotels, motels, tourist inns and resorts, bed and breakfasts, recreational facilities, fitness centers and campgrounds.
7. Summary and preliminary comparison with any existing or proposed federal regulation that is intended to address the activities to be regulated by the proposed rule:
16 CFR 1207,“Safety Standard for Swimming Pool Slides” - The CPSC establishes requirements under 16 CFR 1207 for the manufacture and construction of swimming pool slides. 16 CFR 1450,“Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act” and subsequent CPSC interpretations -The VGB Act established requirements designed to prevent deaths and injuries caused by the hidden hazards of drain entrapments and eviscerations in pools and spas. The law requires the drain covers on all public pools and spas to be compliant with certain performance standards and to have a secondary anti-entrapment system installed when there is a single main drain other than an unblockable drain. Wisconsin’s administrative rules incorporated provisions adopting the VGB Act. Since the last revision of SPS 390, the CPSC has issued new interpretations for unblockable drains and approved a successor standard for drain covers that will be reviewed as part of this rule revision. 21 CFR 1250.89,”Swimming Pools” - Under 21 CFR 1250.89, the Food and Drug Administration establishes requirements for the circulation, replacement, and filtration of water in swimming pools, as well as standards for suitable levels of chlorination in pools. 42 USC 6833, “Updating State Building Energy Efficiency Codes” – 42 USC 6833 requires states to certify to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that they have reviewed and determined whether to revise their building codes so that they meet or exceed the most recent and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers) Standard 90.1. The IECC contains provisions specifically related to pools, including energy standards for heaters, time switches, and covers. 8. Anticipated economic impact of implementing the rule (note if the rule is likely to have a significant economic impact on small businesses):
Public swimming pool and water attractions in Wisconsin already must meet standards outlined in chapters SPS 390 and 390 Appendix. Changes to this rule are not expected to result in significant additional costs and are unlikely to have a negative economic impact on small businesses. Changes to the rule will ensure Wisconsin’s public swimming pools and water attractions design and construction standards meet current standards for protecting public health and safety.
