SACRAMENTO - Assemblyman Bill Emmerson, R-Redlands, and Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, D-San Francisco, introduced Assembly Bill 1020 to require California's public swimming pools to increase safety standards by installing anti-entrapment drain covers to prevent unnecessary deaths as a result of drowning.

"As a health care provider, ensuring the public's safety is of the utmost importance to me and this legislation is just common sense," Emmerson said in a statement. "I'm surprised that these anti-entrapment devices aren't already required by law. Pools and spas without proper safety devices put our children's lives at risk and I believe that this is a critical and necessary measure that is long overdue."

Drowning is the second-leading cause of accidental death among children ages 1 to 14 in the United States. Circulation entrapment occurs when a person becomes attached to a drain due to the suction of the water circulation system of a pool or spa, or when a limb is caught in a drain with a broken or missing cover.