Date: 1991-06-12
Speaker: B RADLEY (democrat)
Chamber: S

Mr. President. I risetoday to join my colleague Senator L&umTNzEG in introducing the Environmental Assessment. Closure.. and Health Act of 199L L am cosponsoring this legislation. because it will reduce the chances that. Americans are needlessly exposed to unsafe water at the beach. Americans face hazards enough at home and at work.. We must do all we can to ensure that citizens are not. exposed to unnecessary risks when on vacation as well.. This legislation will help achieve that goal. Vacatfonefs at the beach. enjoying a. few days off should not have to wonder whether the water in which they and their families are swimming. could make them sick.. They should know that the water is safe. This certainty can only come. from a rigorous: water quality testing- program. and a. willingness to tell the. public when the water. may be unsafe. This legislation. would ensure that. the water testing programs andi beach. closing rules: nationwide are up to the task. Every summer. I walk the beaches of New Jersey. and I talk to. the people I meet about their concerns. New Jerseyans are worried. about their beaches and worried about the safety of the waters in which they and their children swim. Yet New Jerseys rules for testing coastal waters are more stringent than currently required by the EPA. When New Jerseys beaches are open. the water Is safe. New Jersey has a. comprehensive. effective water test ihg program. New Jersey does not flinch from its responsibilities to close beaches when. as sometimes. happens. it may be unsafe to swimSome States are not so- forthcoming. Some States do not test. coastal waters well enough or frequently enough to ensure that. residents and visitors are protected from disease. I am proud to say that New Jersey. has gone to great lengths to ensure safety. Mr. President. I think of this legisla. tion as basic consumer information. As things now stand. each State runs its water testing program in a different way. Information on coastal water quality from the different testing programs can be difficult to make sense of or to compare. even for specialists. This legislation.. and the companion. measure introduced in the House by Representative Hur.HES will ensure that testing programs in coastal areas nationwide- are similar. National testing guidelines and national beach closure standards will make readily comparable information on water quality available to beachgoers. For the first time. Americans will be able to determine which beaches have real) problems with dangerous pollution. and they will be able to compare beaches to. determine which are the safest. New Jersey beaches have nothing to fear from these comparisons. New Jersey ha. I believe. one of the most effective water testing programs in the Nation. New Jersey tests its water on a weekly basis. Many States test their water less frequently. or average the results of repeated tests. thus obscuring short term. intermittent or weatherdependent contamination. In New Jersey we find out about. the short term pollution problems. and we take steps to protect people from possible health risks. Mr. President. some. will complain that rigorous testing will do nothing to clean the water. I think that view is: shortsighted. To reduce the contami nation of our coastal waters we must know the dimensions of the problem. Where are our beach waters unsafe? When do the unsafe conditions occur? Answers to those questions can be used. as they already have been in New Jersey. to track down pollution sources and eliminate them. Furthermore. these naysayers underestimate. the power of publicity. If a beach Is closed because of polluted water. or if people stop visiting the beach because of reports- that the water is unsafe. efforts to find and eliminate the sources of pollutiorr will redouble. And that is what this legislation is really about: cleaning our beaches. eliminating water pollution. and protecting Americans. The stringent testing and pollution guidelines that will- result from the passage of this legislation will lead to real improvement In water quality at the beach.0 By Mr. LAUTENBERG (for himself. Mr. DURENE]RGER. Mr. BuRDicK. and Mr. CHArEEE)