John Drake: “I rise in support of H.R. 2452, the Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act. Our Nation has nearly 23,000 miles of…”

“I rise in support of H.R. 2452, the Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act. Our Nation has nearly 23,000 miles of ocean and gulf shoreline along the continental United States, 5,500 miles of Great Lakes shoreline and 3.6 million miles of rivers and streams. Public confidence and the quality of our Nation's waters is important to every citizen of this Nation, but it is also critical to industries that rely on safe and clean water. To improve the public's confidence in the quality of our Nation's waters and protect public health and safety, Representatives Bishop and LoBiondo introduced H.R. 2452, the Sewage Overflow Community Right-to-Know Act. Sometimes, especially during wet weather, sewage systems can leak or overflow. This can be caused by inadequate design or capacity or by breaks in the system of pipes that are often old and in need of repair. H.R. 2452 requires the publicly owned treatment works develop and implement a feasible monitoring program that is reasonably able to detect the occurrence of an overflow or leak in their sewer systems in a timely manner and to notify the public and health authorities whenever a release would threaten public health and safety.”