Public health: cold spas and cold plunge tubs.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide specific details about the exact standards that cold spas must meet.

Public Health Rules for Cold Spas and Plunge Tubs

The bill adds cold spas to the list of public swimming pools that must follow health and safety rules, and sets new guidelines for cold plunge tubs.

What This Bill Does

• Expands the definition of a public swimming pool to include cold spas.
• Requires cold spas to meet certain construction and operation standards.
• Defines a cold plunge tub as an above-ground individual use therapeutic tub kept at low temperatures using a mechanical chiller.
• Prohibits placing or using cold plunge tubs in the same area as public pools or spas.
• Specifies that cold plunge tubs are not considered public swimming pools and do not need to follow the same rules.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who own, operate, or maintain cold spas.
• Businesses offering cold plunge tub services.
• Health officers enforcing pool safety regulations.

Terms To Know

Cold Spa

A spa that is kept at low temperatures and now must follow public swimming pool health and safety rules.

Cold Plunge Tub

An above-ground tub used for therapeutic purposes, maintained between 35 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit by a mechanical chiller.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify the exact standards cold spas must meet.
• It is unclear how existing cold plunge tub businesses will adapt to new requirements.

Official Summary Text

AB 2330, as amended, Boerner.
Public health: cold spas and cold plunge tubs.
Existing law requires that every person, including both public and private entities, operating or maintaining a public swimming pool do so in a sanitary, healthful, and safe manner, and authorizes the State Department of Public Health to supervise the sanitation, healthfulness, and safety of public swimming pools. Existing law requires the department to make and enforce regulations pertaining to public swimming pools as it deems proper and to enforce specified building standards relating to public swimming pools. Existing law also requires every health officer to enforce the specified building standards relating to swimming pools and other regulations adopted by the department. Existing law defines public swimming pool for these purposes. Existing law makes a person who violates these provisions guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by a specified fine or by imprisonment for not more
than six months, or both.
This bill would expand the definition of a public swimming pool to include a cold spa. The bill would define a cold spa for these purposes, and would require cold spas to be subject to specified requirements related to the construction and operation of a spa or spa pool, except as specified. Because this bill would expand the scope of an existing crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
This bill would also establish requirements for a cold plunge tub, including, among other things, that the cold plunge tub is prohibited from being placed or used within the same enclosure as a public pool or spa. The bill would define a cold plunge tub to mean an aboveground, individual use therapeutic tub that is maintained at temperatures between 35 degrees Fahrenheit and 60 degrees Fahrenheit by use of a mechanical chiller, among other things. The bill would specify that a cold plunge tub is
not considered a public swimming pool and is not subject to any of the construction or sanitation standards mentioned above.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF