{"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":"2026-07-16T13:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T17:50:16","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><a href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/bill-details\/20261\/HB222\/text\/CHAP0053\">Chapter 53 of the 2026 Acts of Assembly <\/a>amended 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 that align with the Code of Virginia. This workgroup 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 single-family 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-8a37\"\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=\"8a371d6b\"\n\t\t\/>\n\n\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" id=\"_wpnonce\" name=\"_wpnonce\" value=\"65177a4f93\" \/><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>Chapter 53 of the 2026 Acts of Assembly amended 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 develop new regulations that align with the Code of Virginia. This workgroup includes [&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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