The Swimming Pool and Spa Safety Act of 2006
California Health and Safety Code Section 11598
(Assembly Bill 2977, aka AB 2977)
(last updated 05-21-07)

There is great confusion over this new California law that went into effect January 01, 2007. 
It was originally written to only affect permitted work on a pool and/or spa.

There are many versions of what went wrong (an error at the State printers office, a failure to proofread, etc., etc.), but...the current law reads that whenever a permit is issued, the drain covers must be certified by a building official.

Here is a portion of the text: 
Whenever a building permit is issued for the remodel or modification of a single family home with an existing swimming pool, toddler pool, or spa, the permit shall require that the suction outlet of the existing swimming pool, toddler pool, or spa be upgraded so as to be equipped with an anti- entrapment cover meeting current standards of the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) or the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)." (Emphasis Added)

News Release: October 13, 2007:

California’s Governor has today signed AB 382, clean-up legislation to last year’s unenforceable swimming pool main drain safety legislation (AB 2977).  AB 382 corrects the glaring errors contained in last year’s statute that has caused confusion among local building officials throughout the state.  This year’s correction was contained in the legislature’s “Omnibus Housing Bill,” a measure that annually corrects errors from the preceding year.

AB 382 was sponsored by the California Spa and Pool Industry Education Council (SPEC). Although it will legally go into effect on January 1, 2008, SPEC is urging local building departments to immediately enforce the provisions of AB 2977 as was the intention of the legislature and Governor when the error filled measure was passed in that session’s final hours last year.  “These corrections could have been made in last January when they were discovered,” SPEC CEO Donald Burns said while expressing the pool, industry’s appreciation to Governor Schwarzenegger today.  “Unfortunately this quick correction was opposed by “Safe Kids California” and the Drowning Prevention Coalition, thus delaying this 2006 child safety measure provision by one year,” Burns noted.