An investigative report by NBC News that aired on The Today Show July 6 revealed that the majority of public swimming pools and spas throughout the United States have not complied with The Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. The report comes six months after the deadline in which all public pools were federally mandated to have anti-entrapment drain covers in place.
In an interview with NBC News Senior Investigative Correspondent Lisa Myers, new U.S.

Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) Chairman Inez Tenenbaum stated that all public pools and spas not in compliance with the safety act should not be open.

Tenenbaum said that she and the CPSC are prepared to tell the state attorneys general that "...compliance is mandatory. There was no grace period. They have to comply with this law now."

Among the report's findings:

• The older drain covers are still being used in thousands of public pools across the U.S.
• Pool drains can pack up to 800 pounds of suctional force. If a child gets too close to a drain with a non-compliant cover, his/her hair can become entangled and limbs or other body parts can quickly get sucked in.
• Of the 14 public pools inspected in four states, the investigative team found that half were not in compliance.
• Health departments throughout the U.S. reported similar findings. In Denver and Indianapolis, approximately 50% of public pools inspected still use the illegal drain covers.
• In some counties in pool-populated Florida, 70% were non-compliant with the safety act.

• In Los Angeles County, about 90% of public pools inspected did not have anti-entrapment drain covers.
• While the CPSC is the federal agency that enforces the law, it doesn't have the resources to conduct inspections of public pools across the U.S.
• While state and local officials should be inspecting public pools and spas in their jurisdictions, many told the investigative team that they don't have the power to enforce the requirement because it's a federal law.
• Some cities have made an effort to comply with the law. "Here in DC, all municipal pools have been converted to new safer drains," said Myers, reporting from the nation's capitol.

The VGB Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 19, 2007, mandated that all public pools and spas must be retrofitted with an approved anti-entrapment drain cover by December 19, 2008. Publics pools and spas include municipal pools, and those at hotels, resorts, country clubs, etc.

Nancy Baker, mother of the late Virginia Graeme Baker, for whom the safety act is named, is worried: "If they don't do it (comply), it will happen (another drain entrapment death). It's just a matter of where it will happen again."