15 U.S.C. § 8005 — Minimum State law requirements

This section defines the minimum pool-safety rules a state (or Indian Tribe^*) must have on its books to be eligible for the swimming pool^* safety grants created in section 8004.

(a) In general.
(1) Safety standards. A state meets these minimum requirements if its own statute requires: barriers around all outdoor residential pools and spas that effectively keep small children from getting in unsupervised (A)(i); and, for pools and spas built more than one year after that state statute passes, either more than one drain, one or more drains that can't be blocked, or no main drain^* at all (A)(ii). The state must also meet whatever additional requirements the Commission^* sets, after giving the public notice and 30 days to comment (B).
(2) Use of minimum State law requirements. The Commission may use these minimum requirements only to decide whether a state or tribe qualifies for a grant under section 8004 (A) — it may not enforce these requirements for any other purpose (B).
(3) Requirements to reflect national performance standards and Commission guidelines. When the Commission sets the additional requirements in (1)(B), it must consider current or updated national safety standards for pool barriers and entrapment prevention (A), and make sure the requirements match its own published guidelines: "Safety Barrier^* Guidelines for Home Pools," "Guidelines for Entrapment Hazards: Making Pools and Spas Safer," and any other pool safety guidance it has issued (B).

(b) Standards. This section doesn't stop the Commission from separately creating its own pool and spa^* safety rules, or from relying on an existing national performance standard.

(c) Basic access-related safety devices and equipment requirements to be considered. In setting the minimum requirements under (a)(1), the Commission must consider requiring: a safety pool cover (1); a gate to the pool or spa area with a self-closing, self-latching device (2); a door with direct pool access fitted with an audible alert device or alarm that sounds when opened (3); and a pool alarm that detects when someone or something enters the water (4).

(d) Entrapment, entanglement, and evisceration prevention standards to be required.
(1) In general. Except for pools without a single main drain, the Commission must require at least one of these systems: a safety vacuum release system^* that shuts off or reverses the pump, or releases suction, when it detects a blockage, and that's been independently tested to meet ASME/ANSI A112.19.17 or ASTM F2387, or any later version of those standards (A); a suction-limiting vent system with a tamper-resistant opening (B); a gravity drainage system using a holding tank (C); an automatic pump shut-off system (D); a device that disables the drain (E); or any other system the Commission finds equally effective at preventing injury or death from pool drains (F).
(2) Applicable standards. Any device described in (B) through (E) above must also meet whatever ASME/ANSI, ASTM, or other consumer product safety standard applies to that type of device.

(e) State defined. In this section, "State" includes an Indian Tribe.