Last month, the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s voting commissioners moved to change the definition of an unblockable drain to require that the sump, in addition to the drain cover, measure more than 18-by-23-inches and meet certain other testing criteria. The measure passed 3 to 2, in what some say was a predetermined outcome.
The issue has a history beginning in 2010, when the Commission decided a drain can be considered unblockable — regardless of sump size — if its cover complies with the VGB Act. That measure sparked protest among safety advocates and others, who claimed that such a drain would become hazardous if its cover came off to expose a smaller sump.
The recent vote occurred when one of the commissioners who approved last year’s interpretation and the new ruling was split along partisan lines, with Republican’s against and Democrats for the change. Both sides say they received industry input and aquatic professionals are still reacting to the decision.
