Drain Cover Safety Standards

• The Pool and Spa Safety Act prohibits the manufacture, sale and distribution of drain covers that do not meet the Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines for anti-entrapment devices. The act requires the commission to establish a safety standard for such devices to ensure that all drain covers available on the market meet current safety standards and are in compliance with the law.
  
  

Anti-Entrapment Safety Standards

• The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act requires all pools and spas open to the public for free or for a fee be equipped with anti-entrapment systems or devices in compliance with the current standards of the American National Standards Institute, published by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Pools and spas with single drains must have either a safety vacuum release system, suction-limiting vent system, gravity drainage system, automatic pump shut-off, a device that disables the drain or any other system deemed by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to be as good as, or better than the systems specifically listed in the act.
  
  

Swimming Pool Safety Grant Program

• A grant program was created in order to assist states with the cost of enforcing the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. Each state that demonstrates it has a state statute that enforces the act to the satisfaction of the Consumer Product Safety Commission is eligible to receive a grant based on its population and enforcement needs. States that did not receive a grant the previous year are given priority for the allocation of funds. Fifty percent of the grant money received must go toward hiring and training enforcement personnel. The remainder of the funds is divided among education programs for pool owners and administrative costs.
  
  

Required Safety Standards

• States must enact or amend a statute that requires enclosures for all residential pools and spas that will effectively prevent children from having unsupervised access. States must also require that all pools and spas have anti-entrapment devices installed, and that all new pools built more than one year after the enactment of the statute have more than one drain, one or more unblockable drains or no main drain. Pools that have unblockable drains must have a drain cover that meets consumer product safety standards.
  
  

Educational Programs

• The Consumer Product Safety Commission carries out educational programs to inform the public how to prevent drowning deaths in public and private pools and spas in accordance with the Pool and Spa Safety Act. These programs include educational materials for manufacturers, pool service companies, pool supply stores and pool owners and operators. The Commission is also required to implement a national pool safety awareness campaign.