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Sea Bright, NJ --- One day before the summer beach season officially kicks off, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) today proclaimed our beaches clean and safe at a news conference on the beach in Sea Bright. The New Jersey congressman joined U.S. Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Acting Regional Administrator Kathy Callahan and Clean Ocean Action Executive Director Cindy Zipf.
Pallone and Lautenberg touted the results of their Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act, which requires states use more consistent water quality standards and strengthen their monitoring programs. The BEACH Act also provides grants to states to develop and implement better monitoring programs. The two New Jersey lawmakers today announced a $280,780 BEACH grant to New Jersey, bringing the total grant amount since the Act was signed into law to over $1 million.
"We have made great strides with the BEACH Act, but we need to continue to develop new water quality testing methods and standards to ensure we protect the public health of New Jersey beachgoers," Pallone said. "Developing tests that look at multiple pathogens and yield results more quickly will provide a higher level of protection for all of us who enjoy swimming off New Jersey's beaches."
Pallone stressed the need to remain vigilant in protecting our coastal water resources. In 2003, the EPA proposed making a policy change that would undermine the Clean Water Act and put more, not less, sewage in our waters. Recognizing the potential risks to the public health and New Jersey’s tourist-dependent economy, Pallone fought against the EPA’s so-called "sewage blending" proposal. Last week, the EPA retreated and announced it would not finalize the policy. To make sure EPA kept its word, Pallone worked with a bipartisan group of House members to pass an amendment that prevents more partially treated human sewage from being dumped in our waterways. The amendment was included in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2006 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill last week.
The New Jersey congressman said we've also been successful at keeping trash off our beaches thanks to a program called the "floatables action plan," which is an inter-agency plan to look out for and clean up floating trash in the ocean before it gets close to our beaches. Unfortunately, Pallone said, the Bush budget is $1.6 million short of what is needed to make sure that the program works effectively next summer. This funding cut would keep two of the skimmer boats tied up at dock all summer and would lead to no skimmer boat coverage on weekends or holidays.
"We've come a long way from the days of medical waste on our beaches and dump sites in the ocean," Pallone said. "We know what clean beaches and clean water mean to our tourism economy, and we will continue to work to protect the coastal environment. |
