II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2390 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 26, 2012 

Mr. GRAHAM introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

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: 

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

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


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1 comprehensive national mandate for the elimination 

2 of discrimination against individuals with disabil3 ities’’. 

4 (2) The Nation’s proper goals regarding indi5 viduals with disabilities are to ensure equality of op6 portunity and full participation for such individuals. 

7 (3) The Department of Justice’s revised regula8 tions for titles II and III of the Americans with Dis9 abilities Act of 1990 (as in effect on the date of en10 actment of this Act) recognize that public accom11 modations should provide access to their amenities 

12 to individuals with disabilities. 

13 (4) It is important for public accommodations 

14 to provide access to their amenities, including pools, 

15 to individuals with disabilities. 

16 (5) Public accommodations should provide ac17 cess to their amenities, including pools, in a reason18 able, efficient, and expedient manner that accounts 

19 for the interests of individuals with disabilities and 

20 also considers other legitimate concerns, such as 

21 safety and feasibility. 

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

23 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as 

24 the regulations relate to the accessibility of pools at 

25 public accommodations, do not reasonably or adeVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:26 May 02, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2390.IS S2390

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1 quately balance the access needs of individuals with 

2 disabilities with other legitimate, and sometimes 

3 competing, safety and feasibility concerns. 

4 SEC. 3. REVISION OF RULES. 

5 (a) EXTENSION OF COMPLIANCE DEADLINE.— 

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

7 an alleged violation, of the revised regulations for ti8 tles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act 

9 of 1990 (part 36 of title 28, Code of Federal Regu10 lations, as in effect on the date of enactment of this 

11 Act) regarding the requirements for a public accom12 modation or commercial facility to provide an acces13 sible means of entry to pools, that occurred on or 

14 after March 15, 2012, and before the date that is 

15 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act. The 

16 Attorney General may not investigate, or initiate a 

17 compliance review of, such an alleged violation. 

18 (2) PENDING PROCEEDINGS DISMISSED.—Be19 ginning on the date of enactment of this Act, any 

20 suit, against a public accommodation or commercial 

21 facility for a violation described in paragraph (1), 

22 that is brought on or after March 15, 2012, and be23 fore the date of enactment of this Act, shall be dis24 missed. 


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

2 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Attorney Gen3 eral shall revise section 36.304 of title 28, Code of Federal 

4 Regulations, and any other appropriate rules in part 36 

5 of such title to provide that— 

6 (1) a public accommodation or commercial facil7 ity that has a pool and uses a portable pool lift on 

8 request shall be in compliance with the requirement 

9 under such rules to provide an accessible means of 

10 entry to such pool, even if installation of a perma11 nent lift is readily achievable; and 

12 (2) a public accommodation or commercial facil13 ity that has more than 1 pool and uses 1 portable 

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

15 compliance with the requirement under such rules to 

16 provide an accessible means of entry to each such 

17 pool. 

18 (c) DEFINITIONS.— 

19 (1) COMMERCIAL FACILITIES; PUBLIC ACCOM20 MODATION.—The terms ‘‘commercial facilities’’ and 

21 ‘‘public accommodation’’ have the meanings given 

22 the terms in section 301 of the Americans with Dis23 abilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12181). 

24 (2) POOL.—The term ‘‘pool’’ means a swim25 ming pool, wading pool, sauna, steam room, spa, 


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

2 amusement, or any other manmade body of water to 

3 which part 36 of title 28, Code of Federal Regula4 tions, requires a public accommodation or commer5 cial facility to provide an accessible means of entry. 

Æ 


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