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March 29, 2024 Rain | 40°F
The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Section 127A1/2: Requirement of personal flotation devices for municipal and recreational programs and camps for minor children; determination of swimming ability

Section 127A1/2. (a) The department of public health shall adopt rules or regulations requiring municipal and recreational programs and camps for minor children under its jurisdiction to have a system in place to have Coast Guard approved personal flotation devices of Type I, II or III available to non-swimmers and at-risk swimmers who will be present in a swimming or diving area, excluding swimming pools, wading pools and other artificial bodies of water.

(b) A determination shall be made of each minor's swimming ability at the first swimming session at municipal and recreational programs and camps in order to identify and classify non-swimmers and at-risk swimmers. Minors attending a municipal or recreational program or camp shall then be confined to swimming areas consistent with the limits of their swimming skills or to swimming areas requiring lesser skills than those for which they have been classified.

(c) No municipal or recreational program or camp for minor children shall refuse, decline or otherwise prohibit a parent, guardian or person with custody of a minor from providing a Coast Guard approved personal flotation device of Type I, II or III to such municipal or recreational program or camp to be used by the minor for the duration of the minor's attendance at such camp.