I recently signed a petition to my senators to pass the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2009. This bill directs the EPA to modernize the technology we rely on to tell us if beach water is safe for swimming. It also takes steps towards tracking and solving our sources of beach pollution.
I sign a lot of petitions and I never really know if my voice is heard...until now.
I received this reply from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. I thought it was pretty cool!
August 9, 2010
Dear Meredith,
Thank you for contacting me about the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2009 (S. 878). I support this important piece of legislation which will amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to update provisions relating to water monitoring on beaches. Specifically, this bill will correct the two main problems regarding beach monitoring: that current testing methods do not cover the full spectrum of waterborne pathogens and other forms of contamination. Currently the results are too slow, taking anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to process from the time the sample was drawn.
This legislation will protect American families who frequent our beaches by directing the Environmental Protection Agency to complete its validation of a rapid water testing method, which would give beach goers same day information about water quality conditions, by 2012. This bill will also require health officials at beaches to make quicker decisions about beach advisories and closures. Another great feature of this legislation is that it will provide funding for coastal communities to study, identify and correct sources of beach water pollution.
The Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2009 will ensure that beachgoers get timely and actionable information about the conditions of the water they swim in and provide local communities with the resources they need to identify and eliminate sources of pollution.
Thank you for contacting me regarding this important issue. Please stay in contact with my office regarding any future legislation or issue that may concern you. For more information on this and other important issues being discussed in the United States Senate, please visit my website http://gillibrand.senate.gov and sign up for my e-newsletter.
Sincerely yours,
Kirsten Gillibrand, United States Senator
Dear Meredith,
Thank you for contacting me about the Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2009 (S. 878). I support this important piece of legislation which will amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to update provisions relating to water monitoring on beaches. Specifically, this bill will correct the two main problems regarding beach monitoring: that current testing methods do not cover the full spectrum of waterborne pathogens and other forms of contamination. Currently the results are too slow, taking anywhere from 24 to 48 hours to process from the time the sample was drawn.
This legislation will protect American families who frequent our beaches by directing the Environmental Protection Agency to complete its validation of a rapid water testing method, which would give beach goers same day information about water quality conditions, by 2012. This bill will also require health officials at beaches to make quicker decisions about beach advisories and closures. Another great feature of this legislation is that it will provide funding for coastal communities to study, identify and correct sources of beach water pollution.
The Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act of 2009 will ensure that beachgoers get timely and actionable information about the conditions of the water they swim in and provide local communities with the resources they need to identify and eliminate sources of pollution.
Thank you for contacting me regarding this important issue. Please stay in contact with my office regarding any future legislation or issue that may concern you. For more information on this and other important issues being discussed in the United States Senate, please visit my website http://gillibrand.senate.gov and sign up for my e-newsletter.
Sincerely yours,
Kirsten Gillibrand, United States Senator
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