109TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3718

AN ACT

To increase the safety of swimming pools and spas by requiring the use of proper anti-entrapment drain covers and

pool and spa drainage systems, by establishing a swimming pool safety grant program administered by the

Consumer Product Safety Commission to encourage

States to improve their pool and spa safety laws and

to educate the public about pool and spa safety, and

for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Pool and Spa Safety Act’’.
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1 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for

2 this Act is as follows:

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.

Sec. 2. Findings.

Sec. 3. Federal swimming pool and spa drain cover standard.

Sec. 4. State swimming pool safety grant program.

Sec. 5. Minimum State law requirements.

Sec. 6. Education program.

Sec. 7. Definitions.

Sec. 8. CPSC report.

3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

4 The Congress finds that—

5 (1) of injury-related deaths, drowning is the

6 second leading cause of death in children aged 1 to

7 14 in the United States;

8 (2) many children die due to pool and spa

9 drowning and entrapment, such as Virginia Graeme

10 Baker, who at age 7 drowned by entrapment in a

11 residential spa;

12 (3) in 2003, 782 children ages 14 and under

13 died as a result of unintentional drowning;

14 (4) adult supervision at all aquatic venues is a

15 critical safety factor in preventing children from

16 drowning; and

17 (5) research studies show that the installation

18 and proper use of barriers or fencing, as well as ad19 ditional layers of protection, could substantially re20 duce the number of childhood residential swimming

21 pool drownings and near drownings.
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1 SEC. 3. FEDERAL SWIMMING POOL AND SPA DRAIN COVER

2 STANDARD.

3 (a) CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY RULE.—The pro4 visions of subsection (b) shall be considered to be a con

5 sumer product safety rule issued by the Consumer Product

6 Safety Commission under section 9 of the Consumer Prod7 uct Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 2058).

8 (b) DRAIN COVER STANDARD.—Effective 1 year

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, each swimming

10 pool or spa drain cover manufactured, distributed, or en11 tered into commerce in the United States shall conform

12 to the entrapment protection standards of the ASME/

13 ANSI A112.19.8 performance standard, or any successor

14 standard regulating the same.

15 SEC. 4. STATE SWIMMING POOL SAFETY GRANT PROGRAM.

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of ap17 propriations authorized by subsection (e), the Commission

18 shall establish a grant program to provide assistance to

19 eligible States.

20 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant under

21 the program, a State shall—

22 (1) demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Com23 mission that it has a State statute, or that, after the

24 date of enactment of this Act, it has enacted a stat25 ute, or amended an existing statute, and provides for

26 the enforcement of, a law that—
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1 (A) except as provided in section

2 5(a)(1)(A)(i), applies to all swimming pools in

3 the State; and

4 (B) meets the minimum State law require5 ments of section 5; and

6 (2) submit an application to the Commission at

7 such time, in such form, and containing such addi8 tional information as the Commission may require.

9 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The Commission shall de10 termine the amount of a grant awarded under this Act,

11 and shall consider—

12 (1) the population and relative enforcement

13 needs of each qualifying State; and

14 (2) allocation of grant funds in a manner de15 signed to provide the maximum benefit from the

16 program in terms of protecting children from drown17 ing or entrapment, and, in making that allocation,

18 shall give priority to States that have not received

19 a grant under this Act in a preceding fiscal year.

20 (d) USE OF GRANT FUNDS.—A State receiving a

21 grant under this section shall use—

22 (1) at least 50 percent of amount made avail23 able to hire and train enforcement personnel for im24 plementation and enforcement of standards under

25 the State swimming pool and spa safety law; and
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1 (2) the remainder—

2 (A) to educate pool construction and in3 stallation companies and pool service companies

4 about the standards;

5 (B) to educate pool owners, pool operators,

6 and other members of the public about the

7 standards under the swimming pool and spa

8 safety law and about the prevention of drown9 ing or entrapment of children using swimming

10 pools and spas; and

11 (C) to defray administrative costs associ12 ated with such training and education pro13 grams.

14 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

15 are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for

16 each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012 $10,000,000 to

17 carry out this section, such sums to remain available until

18 expended.

19 SEC. 5. MINIMUM STATE LAW REQUIREMENTS.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—

21 (1) SAFETY STANDARDS.—A State meets the

22 minimum State law requirements of this section if—

23 (A) the State requires by statute—

24 (i) the enclosure of all residential

25 pools and spas by barriers to entry that
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1 will effectively prevent small children from

2 gaining unsupervised and unfettered access

3 to the pool or spa;

4 (ii) that all pools and spas be

5 equipped with devices and systems de6 signed to prevent entrapment by pool or

7 spa drains;

8 (iii) that pools and spas built more

9 than 1 year after the date of enactment of

10 such statute have—

11 (I) more than 1 drain;

12 (II) 1 or more unblockable

13 drains; or

14 (III) no main drain; and

15 (iv) every swimming pool and spa that

16 has a main drain, other than an

17 unblockable drain, be equipped with a

18 drain cover that meets the consumer prod19 uct safety standard established by section

20 3; and

21 (B) the State meets such additional State

22 law requirements for pools and spas as the

23 Commission may establish after public notice

24 and a 30-day public comment period.
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1 (2) USE OF MINIMUM STATE LAW REQUIRE2 MENTS.—The Commission—

3 (A) shall use the minimum State law re4 quirements under paragraph (1) solely for the

5 purpose of determining the eligibility of a State

6 for a grant under section 4 of this Act; and

7 (B) may not enforce any requirement

8 under paragraph (1) except for the purpose of

9 determining the eligibility of a State for a grant

10 under section 4 of this Act.

11 (3) REQUIREMENTS TO REFLECT NATIONAL

12 PERFORMANCE STANDARDS AND COMMISSION

13 GUIDELINES.—In establishing minimum State law

14 requirements under paragraph (1), the Commission

15 shall—

16 (A) consider current or revised national

17 performance standards on pool and spa barrier

18 protection and entrapment prevention; and

19 (B) ensure that any such requirements are

20 consistent with the guidelines contained in the

21 Commission’s publication 362, entitled ‘‘Safety

22 Barrier Guidelines for Home Pools’’, the Com23 mission’s publication entitled ‘‘Guidelines for

24 Entrapment Hazards: Making Pools and Spas
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1 Safer’’, and any other pool safety guidelines es2 tablished by the Commission.

3 (b) STANDARDS.—Nothing in this section prevents

4 the Commission from promulgating standards regulating

5 pool and spa safety or from relying on an applicable na6 tional performance standard.

7 (c) BASIC ACCESS-RELATED SAFETY DEVICES AND

8 EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS TO BE CONSIDERED.—In

9 establishing minimum State law requirements for swim10 ming pools and spas under subsection (a)(1), the Commis11 sion shall consider the following requirements:

12 (1) COVERS.—A safety pool cover.

13 (2) GATES.—A gate with direct access to the

14 swimming pool that is equipped with a self-closing,

15 self-latching device.

16 (3) DOORS.—Any door with direct access to the

17 swimming pool that is equipped with an audible alert

18 device or alarm which sounds when the door is

19 opened.

20 (4) POOL ALARM.—A device designed to provide

21 rapid detection of an entry into the water of a swim22 ming pool or spa.

23 (d) ENTRAPMENT, ENTANGLEMENT, AND EVISCERA24 TION PREVENTION STANDARDS TO BE REQUIRED.—
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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—In establishing additional

2 minimum State law requirements for swimming

3 pools and spas under subsection (a)(1), the Commis4 sion shall require, at a minimum, 1 or more of the

5 following (except for pools constructed without a sin6 gle main drain):

7 (A) SAFETY VACUUM RELEASE SYSTEM.—

8 A safety vacuum release system which ceases

9 operation of the pump, reverses the circulation

10 flow, or otherwise provides a vacuum release at

11 a suction outlet when a blockage is detected,

12 that has been tested by an independent third

13 party and found to conform to ASME/ANSI

14 standard A112.19.17 or ASTM standard

15 F2387.

16 (B) SUCTION-LIMITING VENT SYSTEM.—A

17 suction-limiting vent system with a tamper-re18 sistant atmospheric opening.

19 (C) GRAVITY DRAINAGE SYSTEM.—A grav20 ity drainage system that utilizes a collector

21 tank.

22 (D) AUTOMATIC PUMP SHUT-OFF SYS23 TEM.—An automatic pump shut-off system.

24 (E) DRAIN DISABLEMENT.—A device or

25 system that disables the drain.
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1 (F) OTHER SYSTEMS.—Any other system

2 determined by the Commission to be equally ef3 fective as, or better than, the systems described

4 in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of this para5 graph at preventing or eliminating the risk of

6 injury or death associated with pool drainage

7 systems.

8 (2) APPLICABLE STANDARDS.—Any device or

9 system described in subparagraphs (B) through (E)

10 of paragraph (1) shall meet the requirements of any

11 ASME/ANSI or ASTM performance standard if

12 there is such a standard for such a device or system,

13 or any applicable consumer product safety standard.

14 SEC. 6. EDUCATION PROGRAM.

15 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall establish

16 and carry out an education program to inform the public

17 of methods to prevent drowning and entrapment in swim18 ming pools and spas. In carrying out the program, the

19 Commission shall develop—

20 (1) educational materials designed for pool

21 manufacturers, pool service companies, and pool

22 supply retail outlets;

23 (2) educational materials designed for pool own24 ers and operators; and
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1 (3) a national media campaign to promote

2 awareness of pool and spa safety.

3 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There

4 are authorized to be appropriated to the Commission for

5 each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012 $5,000,000 to

6 carry out the education program authorized by subsection

7 (a).

8 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

9 In this Act:

10 (1) ASME/ANSI STANDARD.—The term

11 ‘‘ASME/ANSI standard’’ means a safety standard

12 accredited by the American National Standards In13 stitute and published by the American Society of

14 Mechanical Engineers.

15 (2) ASTM STANDARD.—The term ‘‘ASTM

16 standard’’ means a safety standard issued by ASTM

17 International, formerly known as the American Soci18 ety for Testing and Materials.

19 (3) BARRIER.—The term ‘‘barrier’’ includes a

20 natural or constructed topographical feature that

21 prevents unpermitted access by children to a swim22 ming pool, and, with respect to a hot tub, a lockable

23 cover.

24 (4) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’

25 means the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
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1 (5) MAIN DRAIN.—The term ‘‘main drain’’

2 means a submerged suction outlet typically located

3 at the bottom of a pool or spa to conduct water to

4 a re-circulating pump.

5 (6) SAFETY VACUUM RELEASE SYSTEM.—The

6 term ‘‘safety vacuum release system’’ means a vacu7 um release system capable of providing vacuum re8 lease at a suction outlet caused by a high vacuum

9 occurrence due to a suction outlet flow blockage.

10 (7) UNBLOCKABLE DRAIN.—The term

11 ‘‘unblockable drain’’ means a drain of any size and

12 shape that a human body cannot sufficiently block

13 to create a suction entrapment hazard.

14 (8) SWIMMING POOL; SPA.—The term ‘‘swim15 ming pool’’ or ‘‘spa’’ means any outdoor or indoor

16 structure intended for swimming or recreational

17 bathing, including in-ground and above-ground

18 structures, and includes hot tubs, spas, portable

19 spas, and non-portable wading pools.

20 SEC. 8. CPSC REPORT.

21 Within 1 year after the close of each fiscal year for

22 which grants are made under section 4, the Commission
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1 shall submit a report to the Congress evaluating the effec2 tiveness of the grant program authorized by that section.

Passed the Senate December 6, 2006.

Attest:

Secretary.
109TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3718

AN ACT

To increase the safety of swimming pools and spas

other purposes.cate the public about pool and spa safety, and forprove their pool and spa safety laws and to eduSafety Commission to encourage States to improgram administered by the Consumer Productby establishing a swimming pool safety grantdrain covers and pool and spa drainage systems,by requiring the use of proper anti-entrapment