GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF NORTH CAROLINA

SESSION 1993

H	2 

HOUSE BILL 431
Committee Substitute Favorable 5/13/93

Short Title:  Residential Pool Regulation.	(Public)
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Sponsors:
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Referred to:  Health and Human Services.
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March 17, 1993

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT URGING COUNTIES IN NORTH CAROLINA TO ADOPT ORDINANCES REQUIRING PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL SWIMMING POOLS TO BE FENCED.
WHEREAS, drowning is a major cause of childhood death, and children under the age of 5 years are particularly vulnerable to drowning in swimming pools, and
WHEREAS, the North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force has found that in a typical year in North Carolina, 40 to 50 children drown, and about 5 of these drownings occur in swimming pools, and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have estimated that, for every child who drowns, three or four children are hospitalized for near-drownings, and these children may suffer lifelong disability as the result, and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has concluded that as many as 70 percent of childhood swimming pool drownings and near-drownings could be prevented by a fence that keeps the child out of the pool area, and
WHEREAS, the National Committee on Injury Prevention and Control, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the North Carolina Pediatric Society, and the North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force have endorsed the fencing of private residential swimming pools as an effective means of preventing drownings among children under the age of five, and
WHEREAS, the North Carolina Commission for Health Services has made rules requiring public swimming pools in North Carolina to be fenced, and
WHEREAS, county and municipal governments in the State of North Carolina have the authority to enact ordinances requiring the fencing of private residential swimming pools in their counties; Now therefore,
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
Section 1.  The North Carolina General Assembly urges county and municipal governments to adopt rules requiring the fencing of private residential swimming pools.
Sec. 2. This act is effective upon ratification.