Clean Coastal Environment And Public Health Act Of 2009

Floor Speech

Clean Coastal Environment And Public Health Act Of 2009

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Mr. PALLONE. Mr. Speaker, I know that time is short, so I'll be very brief. This is a very important bill to the Nation's beaches, and I represent a coastal area.

Basically, a few years ago, we passed the original BEACH Act, which allowed for the testing of ocean waters so that people would know, as sort of a right-to-know measure, when to go into the water and when not to. It has been very successful in keeping beaches clean and in notifying people when they shouldn't go swimming or when beaches have been cleaned up and they can go back into the water. We found out that we needed some better protection, and that is what we're doing with this bill today.

It calls for more rapid testing, within 24 hours--well, within a few hours, I should say--because, in the past, sometimes it would take 24 to 48 hours before we would know whether beaches should be closed. So there is a much more rapid testing method, which is within a few hours. In addition to that, the grants allow for the support for actually preventing beach closings and for using the Federal money for tracking so that, actually, the waters do not become more polluted.

So there are a lot of improvements in this bill over the current BEACH Act, and I urge its passage. I think we can get it signed into law quickly.

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