Using the commissions' recommendations, directors of the many federal agencies charged with protecting ocean resources will work with other governmental entitities and non-governmental partners to develop and implement a coordinated ocean and coastal policy for the nation. The Senate passsed S.1213 in November. AOC encourages U.S. Representatives to co-sponsor and support H.R. 2547. The Clinton Administration's proposed budget for fiscal year 1999 calls for increases for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Admnistration, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Interior, and the Army Corps of Engineers to prevent polluted runoff, protect public health and restore waters. American Oceans Campaign fully supports these increases and urges Congress to appropriate these monies to bring about the needed improvements to our nation's waterways.
Polluted runoff is a major source of water quality impairment in coastal waters, rivers and lakes.
Polluted runoff threatens the health of our families and destroys important fish and wildlife habitats. Each time it rains, water runs off the land and picks up toxic pesticides and fertilizers from farm fields and lawns, heavy metals and oils from the streets, manure from animal feedlots, metals from mining sites, and sediment from construction sites, farms and timber operations. This polluted runoff carries these contaminants into our drinking, fishing and swimming waters. In addition, sediment buries the underwater vegetation in rivers and coastal waters that sustains juvenile fish and shellfish. AOC urges Representatives and Senators to work with the Administration and other concerned citizens and invest in clean water.