HR-5063 — Safe Beaches, Safe Swimmers Act

YourVoice.Now Summary

Your Money

Local lifeguards could fill in at federal beaches when the government runs short — at federal expense.

Your Money

Lifeguards on duty at federal beaches — local guards can fill gaps

If the Interior Department cannot staff a swim area with its own lifeguards, it could pay a nearby local government to send its guards instead. The local agency would be paid back for all reasonable costs, so it would not be out of pocket.

More about this bill

At federal beaches and lakes, a lifeguard could stay on duty during staffing gaps. When the Interior Department runs short of its own lifeguards, it could pay a local government to send theirs. The local agency would get paid back for all the costs it takes on. This covers swim spots on land run by four Interior agencies. Those are the Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Reclamation. It applies only where federal guards normally work in season. A guard out sick would not count as a shortage. The bill adds no new money. Payments would come from funds Interior already has.

Congressional Summary

Safe Beaches, Safe Swimmers Act This bill establishes requirements to ensure an adequate staff of lifeguards at swimming areas and swimming beaches managed by the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, or the Bureau of Reclamation that are typically monitored by federally employed lifeguards during normal seasonal operating hours. If the Department of the Interior determines there is a staffing shortage of lifeguards that will leave a swimming area or beach unmonitored by federally employed lifeguards during normal seasonal operating hours, Interior may enter into an agreement with local government agencies to provide lifeguards. Interior must ensure that a local government agency providing lifeguard services is reimbursed for all reasonable costs it incurred in carrying out the agreement. The bill does not apply to short-term staffing shortages caused by temporary absences, such as an employee taking annual or sick leave.

Legislative Subjects

First responders and emergency personnelIntergovernmental relationsMigrant, seasonal, agricultural laborSeashores and lakeshores

Details

Congress: 119th
Chamber: House
Status: summarized
Action: Passed House
Action Date: 2026-09-14
Date Added: 2026-09-09
Source: Congress.gov →

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