{"id":22934,"date":"2026-06-26T14:05:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T18:05:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/?page_id=22934"},"modified":"2026-06-26T14:09:33","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T18:09:33","slug":"upcoming-regulatory-changes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/swim-healthy\/upcoming-regulatory-changes\/","title":{"rendered":"Upcoming Changes to Public Pool Regulations"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-22934\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-22934-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-22934-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-22934-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<p>During the 2026 General Assembly, House Bill222 was enacted as <a href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/bill-details\/20261\/HB222\/text\/CHAP0053\">Chapter 53 of the 2026 Acts of Assembly.<\/a>\u00a0 This law will amend the Code of Virginia (<a href=\"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacode\/title32.1\/chapter6\/section32.1-248.1\/\">\u00a7 32.1-248.1<\/a>) related to public pools and other public aquatic facilities.<\/p>\n<p>The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is collaborating with a stakeholder workgroup. Together, VDH and the workgroup will develop new regulations. This group includes owners, operators, and people interested in public aquatic facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Public aquatic facilities include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>swimming pools,<\/li>\n<li>wading pools,<\/li>\n<li>wave pools,<\/li>\n<li>surf pools,<\/li>\n<li>lazy rivers,<\/li>\n<li>hot tubs,<\/li>\n<li>therapy pools,<\/li>\n<li>splash pads,<\/li>\n<li>aquatic facilities owned by apartments, condos, private clubs, or associations, and<\/li>\n<li>other public aquatic facilities.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The change in law does not apply to individual backyard pools at private homes. The change in law does not apply to natural waters, such as lakes, rivers, or the ocean.<\/p>\n<p>Information about the rule\u2011making process will be posted on the <a href=\"https:\/\/townhall.virginia.gov\/L\/NowInProgress.cfm\">Virginia Town Hall<\/a> website. <strong>You can also check back here for updates as they become available.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Updates<\/h2>\n<p>VDH is working with the workgroup to help write new rules that follow the 2026 law and updated sections of the Code of Virginia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-22934-1\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-22934-1-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-22934-1-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-contact-form panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"1\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-contact-form so-widget-sow-contact-form-default-2dba59c62dd0-22934\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t><h3 class=\"widget-title\">Contact Us<\/h3>\t<form\n\t\taction=\"\/environmental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22934\"\n\t\tmethod=\"POST\"\n\t\tclass=\"sow-contact-form\"\n\t\tid=\"contact-form-1d2c\"\n\t>\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-form-field sow-form-field-name\">\n\t\t\t\t<label class=\"sow-form-field-label-above\" for=\"sow-contact-form-field-your-name-1\">\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\n\t\t\t\t\tYour Name\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-field-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input\n\t\t\ttype=\"text\"\n\t\t\tname=\"your-name-1\"\n\t\t\tid=\"sow-contact-form-field-your-name-1\"\n\t\t\tvalue=\"\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"sow-text-field\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-form-field sow-form-field-email\">\n\t\t\t\t<label class=\"sow-form-field-label-above\" for=\"sow-contact-form-field-your-email-1\">\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\n\t\t\t\t\tYour Email\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-field-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input\n\t\t\ttype=\"email\"\n\t\t\tname=\"your-email-1\"\n\t\t\tid=\"sow-contact-form-field-your-email-1\"\n\t\t\tvalue=\"\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"sow-text-field\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-form-field sow-form-field-subject\">\n\t\t\t\t<label class=\"sow-form-field-label-above\" for=\"sow-contact-form-field-subject-1\">\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\n\t\t\t\t\tSubject\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-field-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input\n\t\t\ttype=\"text\"\n\t\t\tname=\"subject-1\"\n\t\t\tid=\"sow-contact-form-field-subject-1\"\n\t\t\tvalue=\"\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"sow-text-field\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-form-field sow-form-field-textarea\">\n\t\t\t\t<label class=\"sow-form-field-label-above\" for=\"sow-contact-form-field-message-1\">\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\n\t\t\t\t\tMessage\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/label>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"sow-field-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<textarea\n\t\t\tname=\"message-1\"\n\t\t\tid=\"sow-contact-form-field-message-1\"\n\t\t\trows=\"10\"\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t><\/textarea>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<input\n\t\t\t\ttype=\"text\"\n\t\t\t\tname=\"sow-name\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"sow-text-field\"\n\t\t\t\tstyle=\"display: none !important; visibility: hidden !important;\"\n\t\t\t\tautocomplete=\"off\"\n\t\t\t\taria-hidden=\"true\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t<div class=\"sow-submit-wrapper \n\t\tsow-submit-styled\t\t\">\n\n\t\t\t<button\n\t\t\t\ttype=\"submit\"\n\t\t\t\tclass=\"sow-submit\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-js-key=\"c4ca4238a0b923820dcc509a6f75849b\" \t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\tContact Us\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<input\n\t\t\ttype=\"hidden\"\n\t\t\tname=\"instance_hash-1\"\n\t\t\tvalue=\"1d2c7e73\"\n\t\t\/>\n\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" id=\"_wpnonce\" name=\"_wpnonce\" value=\"bc11c36221\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wp_http_referer\" value=\"\/environmental-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22934\" \/>\t<\/form>\n\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>During the 2026 General Assembly, House Bill222 was enacted as Chapter 53 of the 2026 Acts of Assembly.\u00a0 This law will amend the Code of Virginia (\u00a7 32.1-248.1) related to public pools and other public aquatic facilities. The Virginia Department of Health (VDH) is collaborating with a stakeholder workgroup. Together, VDH and the workgroup will [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":453,"featured_media":0,"parent":8591,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22934","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Upcoming Changes to Public Pool Regulations - Environmental Health<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In response to new laws, VDH will collaborate with a stakeholder workgroup to develop new public aquatic facility regulations.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/environmental-health\/swim-healthy\/upcoming-regulatory-changes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Upcoming Changes to Public Pool Regulations - 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