The Florida Department of Health’s (DOH) major motion this week recognized the work of the Government Affairs Department of the Florida Swimming Pool Association’s (FSPA), which resulted in an estimated $20 million in savings for the pool and spa industry in the state.
The DOH announced on January 8, 2024 that it will suspend the implementation of a new rule that would require all public pools and hot tubs to have full spectrum NSF-50 Level 1 Certified test kits available. DOH originally made the Level 1 test kit requirement during an update to operational requirements for public pool and spas in Florida Administrative Code 64E-9.
FSPA’s Department of Government Affairs led by Dallas Thiesen Senior Director of Government Relations, met with the Governor’s Office and top staff at the DOH to discuss the concerns the Florida pool and hot tub industries had with the rule change. FSPA’s efforts led the DOH to suspend the implementation of the requirement for a Level 1 test kit and reopen rulemaking in order to address FSPA concerns.
Thiesen said that “delaying implementation of this rule, and revisiting the rulemaking process is a huge win for Florida’s pool and spa industries.” The way the rule was written, made it impossible to comply and compliance efforts were expensive. FSPA looks forward to working with DOH to resolve this issue as soon as possible.”
The original Level 1 Test Kit Rule, which was in effect since July 11th, 2023 and scheduled to be fully implemented in 2024, required that all chemicals and measurements when testing the quality of water in pools and spas were done with NSF 50 level 1 accuracy.
The pool and spa industry faced several challenges as a result of this requirement, including
- There are currently no test kits that can accurately measure all pool chemicals to NSF 50 level 1 accuracy.
- Test kits that are close to complying with the proposed rule cost between $850 and $1300 each.
The full implementation of this regulation would have led to erroneous closures of pools and spas, and cost Florida public pool operators more than $20 million in an attempt to comply with the rule.
FSPA representatives are available to conduct interviews on request. Please contact Alyssa Holcomb, PR and Digital Media Specialist, to schedule an interview or with any questions by e-mailing [email protected].
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