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July 12, 2002
The State Department of Health announced today that new rules for
Public Swimming Pools have been approved by Governor Cayetano and will
become effective on July 15, 2002. These rules were developed over a
two-year period with substantial input from the public and water
quality experts who served on the Department’s Advisory
Committee.
"We are confident that the rules will protect public health and will
not pose an unnecessary regulatory burden on those responsible for
maintaining and operating pools throughout the State," said Bruce
Anderson, Director of Health.
The Department conducted two rounds of public hearings on the
proposed rules. The first hearings were held in January and February,
2001. In response to many issues and concerns raised during these
hearings, substantial revisions were made to the rules, including a
requirement for a minimum water exchange rate, definitions were
clarified, and new provisions added with regard to salt water pools.
Reporting requirements were significantly reduced in response to
comments made by hotel and condominium associations. Another public
hearing was held on April 10, 2002.
Permits to operate public swimming pools must now be renewed every
five years, which is a new requirement. "This allows us to evaluate
information on how public pools are maintained and operated on a
regular basis, which was not happening. With the limited number of
staff that we have to inspect pools, we felt this was necessary.
Otherwise, these rules should have little or no impact on most public
swimming pools throughout the state. In fact, we have made it easier to
operate freshwater pools by eliminated unnecessary reporting
requirements, such as the number of people swimming in the pools
throughout the day," said Anderson
Copies of the rules can be obtained from Department of Health,
Sanitation Branch, 591 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu, Hawaii 96813, Phone
Number (808) 586-8000.
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