2023 Texas Statutes › Health and Safety Code › Title 5 - Sanitation and Environmental Quality › Subtitle A - Sanitation › Chapter 341 - Minimum Standards of Sanitation and Health Protection Measures › Subchapter D. Sanitation and Safety of Facilities Used by Public › Section 341.0646. Child Water Safety Requirements for Certain Organizations

Sec. 341.0646.  CHILD WATER SAFETY REQUIREMENTS FOR CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS.  (a)  In this section:
(1)  "Body of water" means an artificial or natural body of water, including a swimming pool, lake, or river, typically used for recreational swimming, bathing, or play.  The term does not include a wading pool.
(2)  "Child" means an individual younger than 12 years of age.
(3)  "Organized water activity" means an activity an organization conducts in which a participant will enter or travel on a body of water as part of the activity.
(4)  "Wading pool" means a pool, including a pool that contains a public interactive water feature and fountain as defined by department rule, with a maximum water depth of not more than 18 inches.
(b)  This section does not apply to:
(1)  a youth camp licensed under Chapter 141;
(2)  a residential child-care facility as defined by Section 42.002, Human Resources Code; or
(3)  a residential boarding school that allows an employee, a family member of an employee, or a guest of an employee to use a body of water at the school for recreational purposes.
(c)  An organization, including a day camp, youth camp, school, preschool, kindergarten, nursery school, child-care facility as defined by Section 42.002, Human Resources Code, or any other facility providing child-care services licensed by the Health and Human Services Commission that authorizes a child to engage in an organized water activity shall:
(1)  require the child's parent or legal guardian to affirm in writing whether the child is able to swim or is at risk of injury or death when swimming or otherwise accessing a body of water; and
(2)  except as provided by Subsection (d):
(A)  provide to each child who is unable to swim or is at risk of injury or death when swimming or otherwise entering a body of water a properly fitted and fastened Type I, II, or III United States Coast Guard approved personal flotation device or a device the executive commissioner determines is equivalent; and
(B)  ensure the child is wearing the personal flotation device and the device is properly fitted and fastened for the child.
(d)  The organization is not required to provide a child with a flotation device or ensure the child is wearing the device under Subsection (c)(2) if:
(1)  the child is actively participating in swim instruction or a competition; and
(2)  the organization ensures each child participating in the instruction or a competition is closely supervised during the instruction or competition.
(e)  An organization licensed or otherwise regulated by this state that violates this section or rules adopted under this section is subject to disciplinary action, including the imposition of an administrative penalty, by any state regulatory agency with the power to impose disciplinary action on that organization as if the organization violated the agency's licensing or other regulatory laws or rules.
(f)  The executive commissioner may adopt rules necessary to implement this section.
Added by Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 301 (H.B. 59), Sec. 2, eff. September 1, 2023.