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EPA RELEASES MULTI-YEAR STRATEGY FOR BEACHES
Release Date: 04/22/99
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FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, APRIL 22, 1999
EPA RELEASES MULTI-YEAR STRATEGY FOR BEACHES
EPA has released a multi-year strategy to help states and localities protect public health at beaches and recreational waters. EPA Administrator Carol M. Browner first announced EPA’s plan to help states provide safer recreational waters in May l997 and President Clinton made it a priority under his Clean Water Action Plan, announced in February l998. As promised under the Clean Water Action Plan, Vice President Gore announced in June 1998 a public right-to-know initiative to give the general public access to state and local information on recreational water quality through an Internet web site: https://www.epa.gov/ost/beaches. Water quality information on the site is currently limited to that provided by states and localities. Many localities still do not regularly monitor recreational water quality and many states have not adopted EPA’s water quality criteria for bacteria. Studies have linked some illnesses to contaminated recreational waters. Despite significant progress in protecting beaches, coastal areas and other water bodies from pollution, many recreational waters remain threatened by bacterial contamination from sewage and polluted runoff from farms and city streets. Each year, thousands of beaches are closed to swimming because of pollution. Under the new long-term plan, EPA will: conduct annual National Beach Health Surveys to collect data on state and local monitoring and protection activities; assist state and local managers in strengthening water quality standards based on EPA’s recommended criteria; strive for consistent management of recreational water quality programs through assistance and training on water quality monitoring and risk management; improve the science that supports monitoring at these sites; and continue the dialog with state, local and other public health officials through conferences and meetings. The Beach Action Plan is available through the beach web site (see above) or by calling the National Service Center for Environmental Publications at 1-800-490–9198.
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