Petition to make US Pools Safer for Children

Petition to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and whomever else it may concern:

This March, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced new guidance that not only undermines federal pool and spa safety rules, but leaves swimmers, especially children, at great risk.

We the undersigned strongly oppose the decision reached by the CPSC. It is a strange and blatant contradiction to the intent of the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. It also begs the question why the commission wanted to skirt around a statute that saves childrens lives, rather than implement it.

One Commissioner Anne Northrup even implied in her written statement on the issue that the number of deaths caused by entrapment were miniscule and should not justify a disproportionate share of the Commissions attention. This is an affront to every family and child that has been a victim of entrapment or may be in the future.

We find it incomprehensible that an agency developed to protect consumer interest and safety can turn its head on such a major issue.

We believe that every pool and spa in the country should be safe for children and families and that the CPSC should only take action that will bolster current federal safety legislation, not undermine it.