Statement of Christy Leavitt, Environment America
Clean Water Advocate
Contact: Christy Leavitt (202) 683-1250
Environment
America applauds Senator Voinovich and the Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee for voting to better protect swimmers, surfers and
boaters at America’s
beaches.
The
Committee approved the Beach Protection Act of 2008 (S. 2844), bipartisan
legislation introduced by Senator Frank Lautenberg (NJ), which expands water
quality monitoring and public notification programs to better alert beach goers
when the water is polluted. The Beach
Protection Act increases funding for water testing, public notification, and identification
of pollution sources, and improves standards to quickly inform the public when
beach water is unsafe.
The Beach
Protection Act will go a long way in making sure a day at the beach is safe.
To protect
the health of all beachgoers, the Senate should move quickly to pass the Beach
Protection Act. The House passed
companion legislation in April.
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Environment
America, a federation of
state environment groups, is the new home for U.S. PIRG’s environmental work.
