IB 
Union Calendar No. 226 
110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1721 
[Report No. 110–365] 
To increase the safety of swimming pools and spas by requiring the use 
of proper anti-entrapment drain covers and pool and spa drainage sys-
tems, 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. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 27, 2007 
Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ (for herself, Mr. WOLF, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. 
GRIJALVA, Mr. WEXLER, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. MOORE of Kansas, Mr. 
HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. KING of New York, Ms. BEAN, Mr. KLEIN of 
Florida, Mr. MAHONEY of Florida, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. KLINE 
of Minnesota, Mr. THOMPSON of California, and Mr. CANNON) introduced 
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce 
OCTOBER 9, 2007 
Additional sponsors: Mr. HILL, Mr. BARROW, Mr. CARTER, Mrs. MCCARTHY 
of New York, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. MATHESON, Mr. 
BUTTERFIELD, Mr. WEINER, Mr. RAMSTAD, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. KENNEDY, 
Ms. MCCOLLUM of Minnesota, Mr. GORDON of Tennessee, Mr. COOPER, 
Mr. BUCHANAN, Mr. BURGESS, and Mr. DELAHUNT 
OCTOBER 9, 2007 
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed 
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[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on March 27, 2007] 
A BILL 
To increase the safety of swimming pools and spas by requir-
ing the use of proper anti-entrapment drain covers and 
pool and spa drainage systems, by establishing a swim-
ming 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Vir-
ginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
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. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds that— 
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(1) of injury-related deaths, drowning is the sec-
ond leading cause of death in children aged 1 to 14 
in the United States; 
(2) there are approximately 260 drowning deaths 
of children younger than age 5 each year in swim-
ming pools, and an estimated 2,725 children are 
treated annually in hospital emergency rooms for pool 
submersion injuries, mostly in residential pools; 
(3) many children die due to pool and spa 
drowning and entrapment, such as Virginia Graeme 
Baker, who at age 7 drowned by entrapment in a res-
idential spa, and Preston de Ibern, who at age 5 
nearly drowned and was left permanently brain dam-
aged, 
finally 
succumbing 
to 
his 
catastrophic 
healthcare issues when he was 12 years old; 
(4) adult supervision at all aquatic venues is a 
critical safety factor in preventing children from 
drowning; and 
(5) research studies show that the installation 
and proper use of barriers or fencing, as well as addi-
tional layers of protection, could substantially reduce 
the number of childhood residential swimming pool 
drownings and near drownings. 
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SEC. 3. FEDERAL SWIMMING POOL AND SPA DRAIN COVER 
STANDARD. 
(a) CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY RULE.—The provi-
sions of subsection (b) shall be considered to be a consumer 
product safety rule issued by the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission under section 9 of the Consumer Product Safe-
ty Act (15 U.S.C. 2058). 
(b) DRAIN COVER STANDARD.—Effective 1 year after 
the date of enactment of this Act, each swimming pool or 
spa drain cover manufactured, distributed, or entered into 
commerce in the United States shall conform to the entrap-
ment protection standards of the ASME/ANSI A112.19.8 
performance standard. 
(c) REVISION OF RULE.—If, after the enactment of this 
Act, ANSI proposes to revise the entrapment protection re-
quirements of ASME/ANSI A112.19.8, ANSI shall notify 
the Consumer Product Safety Commission of the proposed 
revision and the proposed revision shall be incorporated in 
the consumer product safety rule under subsection (a) un-
less, within 60 days of such notice, the Commission notifies 
ANSI that the Commission has determined that such revi-
sion does not carry out the purposes of subsection (b). 
(d) IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS.—Section 553 of 
title 5, United States Code, shall apply with respect to the 
issuance of any regulations by the Consumer Product Safety 
Commission to implement the requirements of this section, 
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and sections 7 and 9 of the Consumer Product Safety Act 
shall not apply to such issuance. 
SEC. 4. STATE SWIMMING POOL SAFETY GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subject to the availability of appro-
priations authorized by subsection (e), the Commission shall 
establish a grant program to provide assistance to eligible 
States. 
(b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible for a grant under the 
program, a State shall— 
(1) demonstrate to the satisfaction of the Com-
mission that it has a State statute, or that, after the 
date of enactment of this Act, it has enacted a statute, 
or amended an existing statute, that provides for the 
enforcement of a law that— 
(A) 
except 
as 
provided 
in 
section 
5(a)(1)(A)(i), applies to all swimming pools in 
the State; and 
(B) meets the minimum State law require-
ments of section 5; and 
(2) submit an application to the Commission at 
such time, in such form, and containing such addi-
tional information as the Commission may require. 
(c) AMOUNT OF GRANT.—The Commission shall deter-
mine the amount of a grant awarded under this Act, and 
shall consider— 
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