House tourism committee hears bill to require safety notices at short‑term rentals
October 04, 2025 | House of Representatives, House, Committees, Legislative, Puerto Rico
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The House of Representatives Committee on Tourism met Oct. 3, 2025, to hear House Bill 605, filed by Representative Lourdes Ramos Rivera, which would require operators or managers of properties offered as short‑term rentals to provide a bilingual (Spanish/English) safety notice listing nearby beaches within a five‑mile radius, specific warnings about rip currents and other beach hazards, emergency contact numbers, and evacuation routes for storms and other atmospheric events.
The measure matters because lawmakers and agency officials said it aims to reduce drownings and other coastal accidents among tourists and residents who stay in short‑term rentals, while committee members and agency witnesses warned the proposal also would create new inspection and enforcement responsibilities for the Puerto Rico Tourism Company without an identified funding increase.
During the hearing Raúl Márquez Hernández, representing the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, said the agency supports the bill’s objective but cautioned that implementation would impose “una nueva carga regulatoria” and require resources the agency does not currently have. He noted the Tourism Company’s existing statutory role under Law 272 (2003) is primarily fiscal: to register hosts for room‑occupancy tax purposes, tax and collect the occupancy fee, and distribute proceeds. Márquez said the registry does not map one‑to‑one to individual short‑term listings — one registrant can represent many units — and that fiscal and staffing constraints limit the agency’s current ability to inspect thousands of short‑term units.
Representative Ramos Rivera, the bill’s author, stressed the human cost: “¿Cuánto vale una vida? Eso es incalculable,” she said, and argued the required notices could be simple and low‑cost signs or QR codes placed in rental properties. Ramos Rivera said examples might list beaches within a five‑mile radius and warn of localized hazards such as caves, rocks and strong currents; she suggested a sign “que no puede costar más de 20 a 25 dólares.”
Department of Natural and Environmental Resources officials also testified. The department’s written comments, read by staff, said the bill’s requirement that the department appear as a contact on required notices was appropriate because the agency “ostenta jurisdicción sobre las playas” and can provide authoritative guidance on maritime conditions. The department recommended coordinating an interagency approach and using electronic displays or kiosks in common areas to supplement physical signs.
Agency witnesses and members discussed existing tools and proposals that could reduce implementation burden. Witnesses described an existing live‑update website and notification platform (referred to in testimony as SwimSafePR) that posts beach conditions and can send alerts by email or text; committee members suggested integrating that platform, QR codes in reservation confirmations, or automated messages from booking platforms to deliver safety information to guests.
Committee members pressed for operational details. The Department of Natural and Environmental Resources reported it currently has 22 contracted lifeguards and 17 vacant lifeguard positions for balnearios under its jurisdiction and agreed to provide a five‑day follow‑up with a full breakdown of lifeguard staffing and a list of beaches needing signage or repair. Members also requested that the Tourism Company produce an estimate, within five days, of the likely cost to support an outreach or enforcement campaign and the administrative impact on its staffing.
Because the major booking platform Airbnb did not attend, the committee said it will summon that platform to an executive (closed) hearing so the company can explain implementation options and discuss amendments. Members directed staff to pursue amendments that could minimize unnecessary duplication and to consider assigning some compliance functions across agencies — for example, shared enforcement or using the permits process to require signage at the point of registration.
No formal vote on HB 605 was recorded at the hearing. The committee set deadlines for the requested information: agencies and supporting offices were asked to deliver cost estimates, staff and equipment counts, examples of existing coastal signage and the status of buoy/boya installations and rotulación within five days to assist drafting amendments. The committee adjourned at 11:48 a.m.
Next steps: the committee will await the departments’ and Tourism Company’s written responses and will schedule an executive hearing with Airbnb and other short‑term rental platforms before drafting final amendments.
Quotes in this story are from the hearing transcript of the House Committee on Tourism, Oct. 3, 2025.
The measure matters because lawmakers and agency officials said it aims to reduce drownings and other coastal accidents among tourists and residents who stay in short‑term rentals, while committee members and agency witnesses warned the proposal also would create new inspection and enforcement responsibilities for the Puerto Rico Tourism Company without an identified funding increase.
During the hearing Raúl Márquez Hernández, representing the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, said the agency supports the bill’s objective but cautioned that implementation would impose “una nueva carga regulatoria” and require resources the agency does not currently have. He noted the Tourism Company’s existing statutory role under Law 272 (2003) is primarily fiscal: to register hosts for room‑occupancy tax purposes, tax and collect the occupancy fee, and distribute proceeds. Márquez said the registry does not map one‑to‑one to individual short‑term listings — one registrant can represent many units — and that fiscal and staffing constraints limit the agency’s current ability to inspect thousands of short‑term units.
Representative Ramos Rivera, the bill’s author, stressed the human cost: “¿Cuánto vale una vida? Eso es incalculable,” she said, and argued the required notices could be simple and low‑cost signs or QR codes placed in rental properties. Ramos Rivera said examples might list beaches within a five‑mile radius and warn of localized hazards such as caves, rocks and strong currents; she suggested a sign “que no puede costar más de 20 a 25 dólares.”
Department of Natural and Environmental Resources officials also testified. The department’s written comments, read by staff, said the bill’s requirement that the department appear as a contact on required notices was appropriate because the agency “ostenta jurisdicción sobre las playas” and can provide authoritative guidance on maritime conditions. The department recommended coordinating an interagency approach and using electronic displays or kiosks in common areas to supplement physical signs.
Agency witnesses and members discussed existing tools and proposals that could reduce implementation burden. Witnesses described an existing live‑update website and notification platform (referred to in testimony as SwimSafePR) that posts beach conditions and can send alerts by email or text; committee members suggested integrating that platform, QR codes in reservation confirmations, or automated messages from booking platforms to deliver safety information to guests.
Committee members pressed for operational details. The Department of Natural and Environmental Resources reported it currently has 22 contracted lifeguards and 17 vacant lifeguard positions for balnearios under its jurisdiction and agreed to provide a five‑day follow‑up with a full breakdown of lifeguard staffing and a list of beaches needing signage or repair. Members also requested that the Tourism Company produce an estimate, within five days, of the likely cost to support an outreach or enforcement campaign and the administrative impact on its staffing.
Because the major booking platform Airbnb did not attend, the committee said it will summon that platform to an executive (closed) hearing so the company can explain implementation options and discuss amendments. Members directed staff to pursue amendments that could minimize unnecessary duplication and to consider assigning some compliance functions across agencies — for example, shared enforcement or using the permits process to require signage at the point of registration.
No formal vote on HB 605 was recorded at the hearing. The committee set deadlines for the requested information: agencies and supporting offices were asked to deliver cost estimates, staff and equipment counts, examples of existing coastal signage and the status of buoy/boya installations and rotulación within five days to assist drafting amendments. The committee adjourned at 11:48 a.m.
Next steps: the committee will await the departments’ and Tourism Company’s written responses and will schedule an executive hearing with Airbnb and other short‑term rental platforms before drafting final amendments.
Quotes in this story are from the hearing transcript of the House Committee on Tourism, Oct. 3, 2025.
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