Frank Pallone: “my amendment provides for a national uniform beach water quality testing and monitoring program that provides adequate…”

“my amendment provides for a national uniform beach water quality testing and monitoring program that provides adequate protection for swimmers and flexibility for the States. It is basically oriented toward providing, if I could call it, a right-to-know for bathers and swimmers in the Nation's waters that they should know when the beach water quality is such that they should not be bathing in those particular waters or at that particular beach. The reason we need this amendment is because coastal areas are the most populated areas of the country and also the areas most rapidly being developed. The growth in population demands on sewer systems are extreme and have resulted in overflows contaminating coastal waters with human waste. This human waste is the leading cause of human health problems in coastal waters. The coastal economy and the economy of our Nation in general is inextricably linked to the quality of our coastal waters. Coastal tourism, recreation, commercial fishing are all mutibillion-dollar industries and create thousands of jobs.”