I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 203 

To direct the Attorney General to revise certain rules under titles II and 

III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 relating to accessible 

means of entry to pools. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 4, 2013 

Mr. MULVANEY (for himself, Mr. RIBBLE, Mr. JONES, Mr. FARENTHOLD, Mr. 

WESTMORELAND, Mr. COFFMAN, Mr. ROE of Tennessee, Mr. 

SCHWEIKERT, Mr. OWENS, Mr. LANKFORD, Mr. TIBERI, Mr. AMODEI, 

and Mr. GRAVES of Georgia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To direct the Attorney General to revise certain rules under 

titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act 

of 1990 relating to accessible means of entry to pools. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Pool Safety and Acces5 sibility for Everyone Act’’ or the ‘‘Pool SAFE Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) One of the purposes of the Americans with 

2 Disabilities Act of 1990 is to ‘‘provide a clear and 

3 comprehensive national mandate for the elimination 

4 of discrimination against individuals with disabil5 ities’’. 

6 (2) The Nation’s proper goals regarding indi7 viduals with disabilities are to ensure equality of op8 portunity and full participation for such individuals. 

9 (3) The Department of Justice’s revised regula10 tions for titles II and III of the Americans with Dis11 abilities Act of 1990 (as in effect on the date of en12 actment of this Act) recognize that public accom13 modations should provide access to their amenities 

14 to individuals with disabilities. 

15 (4) It is important for public accommodations 

16 to provide access to their amenities, including pools, 

17 to individuals with disabilities. 

18 (5) Public accommodations should provide ac19 cess to their amenities, including pools, in a reason20 able, efficient, and expedient manner that accounts 

21 for the interests of individuals with disabilities and 

22 also considers other legitimate concerns, such as 

23 safety and feasibility. 

24 (6) The revised regulations for titles II and III 

25 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as 


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1 the regulations relate to the accessibility of pools at 

2 public accommodations, do not reasonably or ade3 quately balance the access needs of individuals with 

4 disabilities with other legitimate, and sometimes 

5 competing, safety and feasibility concerns. 

6 SEC. 3. REVISION OF RULES. 

7 (a) EXTENSION OF COMPLIANCE DEADLINE.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—No suit may be brought for 

9 an alleged violation of the revised regulations for ti10 tles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act 

11 of 1990 (part 36 of title 28, Code of Federal Regu12 lations, as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

13 Act) regarding the requirements for a public accom14 modation or commercial facility to provide an acces15 sible means of entry to pools that occurred on or 

16 after January 31, 2013, and before the date that is 

17 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. The 

18 Attorney General may not investigate or initiate a 

19 compliance review of such an alleged violation. 

20 (2) PENDING PROCEEDINGS DISMISSED.—Be21 ginning on the date of enactment of this Act, any 

22 suit against a public accommodation or commercial 

23 facility for a violation described in paragraph (1) 

24 that is brought on or after January 31, 2013, and 


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1 before the date of enactment of this Act, shall be 

2 dismissed. 

3 (b) REVISION OF RULES.—Not later than 60 days 

4 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen5 eral shall revise section 36.304 of title 28, Code of Federal 

6 Regulations, and any other appropriate rules in part 36 

7 of such title to provide that— 

8 (1) a public accommodation or commercial facil9 ity that has a pool and uses a portable pool lift on 

10 request shall be in compliance with the requirement 

11 under such rules to provide an accessible means of 

12 entry to such pool, even if installation of a perma13 nent lift is readily achievable; and 

14 (2) a public accommodation or commercial facil15 ity that has more than 1 pool and uses 1 portable 

16 pool lift on request for all such pools shall be in 

17 compliance with the requirement under such rules to 

18 provide an accessible means of entry to each such 

19 pool. 

20 (c) DEFINITIONS.— 

21 (1) COMMERCIAL FACILITIES; PUBLIC ACCOM22 MODATION.—The terms ‘‘commercial facilities’’ and 

23 ‘‘public accommodation’’ have the meanings given 

24 the terms in section 301 of the Americans with Dis25 abilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12181). 


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1 (2) POOL.—The term ‘‘pool’’ means a swim2 ming pool, wading pool, sauna, steam room, spa, 

3 wave pool, lazy river, sand bottom pool, other water 

4 amusement, or any other manmade body of water to 

5 which part 36 of title 28, Code of Federal Regula6 tions, requires a public accommodation or commer7 cial facility to provide an accessible means of entry. 

Æ 


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