Public health: cold spas and cold plunge tubs.

Plain English Breakdown

The official source does not provide specific penalties for violations or exact costs associated with the changes.

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 rules, sets up new rules for cold plunge tubs.

What This Bill Does

• Adds cold spas to the definition of public swimming pools so they have to follow health rules.
• Sets specific requirements for how cold spas must be built and run.
• Defines a cold plunge tub as an above-ground, individual-use therapeutic tub that stays cool using a machine.
• Specifies that cold plunge tubs do not need to follow the same rules as public swimming pools or cold spas.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who own, run, or use cold spas and cold plunge tubs.
• Health officers who enforce pool safety rules.
• The State Department of Public Health that makes rules for public swimming pools.

Terms To Know

Cold Spa

A spa where the water is kept cool, now treated like a public swimming pool under health and safety rules.

Cold Plunge Tub

An above-ground tub used for cold-water therapy that stays cool using a machine.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not specify the exact costs associated with these changes.
• It is unclear if there are any specific penalties for breaking the new rules about cold plunge tubs and cold spas.

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