Floor Speech
Thank you, Madam Speaker. Let me say that I appreciate the bipartisan support that this legislation has and certainly the efforts not only of Mr. Bishop but of the chairman of the full committee, Mr. Oberstar, and the subcommittee chair, Ms. Eddie Bernice Johnson, for moving this legislation today. Madam speaker, our nation's beaches are vital, not only to residents of our coastal states but also for countless visitors who come to visit each year. America's beaches are a tremendous resource for those who come to enjoy them, and they are a huge economic engine for our coastal states.
In New Jersey alone, beaches have a tourism economy that provides nearly 500,000 jobs and generates $36 billion in economic activities for the state each year. And all summer long, thousands of people flock to the beaches. It's my intention to assure that these beachgoers that are there in New Jersey and elsewhere, that not only are they visiting clean beaches but they are also swimming in safe waters. And thanks to the beaches act, a law that I helped to author back in 2000, we have made major strides over the last eight years. The beach act of 2000 helped us improve water quality testing and monitoring beaches across the country, which is critical to protecting the health of beachgoers.
The act had three provisions, one requiring states to adopt certain E.P.A. water quality criteria to protect beachgoers from getting sick. Two, requiring the E.P.A. to update these water quality criteria with new science and technologies to provide better, faster water testing. And third, to provide grants to states to implement closer water monitoring programs. In New Jersey, we used some of this grant money to become the first state in the nation to launch a real-time website that notifies beachgoers of the state of our beaches.
Essentially, Madam Speaker, this bill is a right-to-know piece of legislation. Now, despite the actions New Jersey and other states have taken since the beach act was signed earlier in the year 2000, this act must be improved, and that's why I've introduced the Beach Protection Act of 2007. It not only goes to 2012, it also adds $40 million annually. We expand the scope of beach grants to notification to include tracking efforts. And the bill requires that beach water quality violations are disclosed, not only to the public, but all relevant state agencies with beach water quality authority.
And I want to mention the rapid testing methods. This act calls for the use of rapid testing methods by requiring the E.P.A. to approve the use of rapid testing methods that protect contamination in six hours or less. This is something I've been advocating for the last couple of years. Current water quality tests, like those used in New Jersey, only test for bacterial levels and take 24 to 48 hours to produce reliable results, during which time beachgoers can be unknowingly exposed to harmful pathogens.
The legislation also requires prompt communication with state environmental agencies by stating that all beach act grant recipients make closures or advisories within 24 hours. We're also requiring each state receiving grants to implement measures for tracking and
identifying sources of closure information posted and making sure that closure advisories are issued after the state finding that they are out of compliance. |
