Under the Clean Water Act, EPA is responsible for publishing water quality criteria that establish thresholds at which contamination— including waterborne pathogens—may threaten human health. States are required to develop standards, or legal limits, for these pathogens by either adopting EPA’s recommended water quality criteria or other criteria that EPA determines are equally protective of human health. The states then use these pathogen standards to assess water quality at their recreational beaches. The BEACH Act amended the Clean Water Act to require the 35 eligible states and territories to update their recreational water quality standards using EPA’s 1986 criteria for pathogen indicators. In addition, the BEACH Act required EPA to (1) complete studies on pathogens in coastal recreational waters and how they affect human health, including developing rapid methods of detecting pathogens by October 2003, and (2) publish new or revised water quality criteria by October 2005, to be reviewed and revised as necessary every 5 years thereafter. The BEACH Act also authorized EPA to award grants to states, localities, and tribes to develop comprehensive beach monitoring and public notification programs for their recreational beaches. To be eligible for BEACH Act grants, states are required to (1) identify their recreational beaches, (2) prioritize their recreational beaches for monitoring based on their use by the public and the risk to human health, and (3) establish a public notification program. EPA grant criteria give states some flexibility on the frequency of monitoring, methods of monitoring, and processes for notifying the public when pathogen indicators exceed state standards, including whether to issue health advisories or close beaches. Although the BEACH Act authorized EPA to provide $30 million in grants annually for fiscal years 2001 through 2005, since fiscal year 2001, congressional conference reports accompanying EPA’s appropriations acts have directed about $10 million annually for BEACH Act grants and EPA has followed this congressional direction when allocating funds to the program. EPA has made progress implementing the BEACH Act’s provisions but has missed statutory deadlines for two critical requirements. Of the nine actions required by the BEACH Act, EPA has taken action on the following seven: Propose water quality standards and criteria—The BEACH Act required each state with coastal recreation waters to incorporate EPA’s published criteria for pathogens or pathogen indicators, or criteria EPA considers equally protective of human health, into their state water quality standards by April 10, 2004. The BEACH Act also required EPA to propose regulations setting forth federal water quality standards for those states that did not meet the deadline. On November 16, 2004, EPA published in the Federal Register a final rule promulgating its 1986 water quality standards for E. coli and enterococci for the 21 states and territories that had not adopted water quality criteria that were as protective of human health as EPA’s approved water quality criteria. According to EPA, all 35 states with coastal recreational waters are now using EPA’s 1986 criteria, compared with the 11 states that were using these criteria in 2000. Provide BEACH Act grants—The BEACH Act authorized EPA to distribute annual grants to states, territories, tribes and, in certain situations, local governments to develop and implement beach monitoring and notification programs. Since 2001, EPA has awarded approximately $51 million in development and implementation grants for beach monitoring and notification programs to all 35 states. Alaska is the only eligible state that has not yet received a BEACH Act implementation grant because it is still in the process of developing a monitoring and public notification program consistent with EPA’s grant performance criteria. EPA expects to distribute approximately $10 million for the 2007 beach season subject to the availability of funds. Publish beach monitoring guidance and performance criteria for grants—The BEACH Act required EPA to develop guidance and performance criteria for beach monitoring and assessment for states receiving BEACH Act grants by April 2002. After a year of consultations with coastal states and organizations, EPA responded to this requirement in 2002 by issuing its National Beach Guidance and Required Performance Criteria for Grants. To be eligible for BEACH Act grants, EPA requires recipients to develop (1) a list of beaches evaluated and ranked according to risk, (2) methods for monitoring water quality at their beaches, such as when and where to conduct sampling, and (3) plans for notifying the public of the risk from pathogen contamination at beaches, among other requirements. Develop a list of coastal recreational waters—The BEACH Act required EPA to identify and maintain a publicly available list of coastal recreational waters adjacent to beaches or other publicly accessible areas, with information on whether or not each is subject to monitoring and public notification. In March 2004, EPA published its first comprehensive National List of Beaches based on information that the states had provided as a condition for receiving BEACH Act grants. The list identified 6,099 coastal recreational beaches, of which 3,472, or 57 percent, were being monitored. The BEACH Act also requires EPA to periodically update its initial list and publish revisions in the Federal Register. However, EPA has not yet published a revised list, in part because some states have not provided updated information. Develop a water pollution database—The BEACH Act required EPA to establish, maintain, and make available to the public an electronic national water pollution database. In May 2005, EPA unveiled “eBeaches,” a collection of data pulled from multiple databases on the location of beaches, water quality monitoring, and public notifications of beach closures and advisories. This information has been made available to the public through an online tool called BEACON (Beach Advisory and Closing Online Notification). EPA officials acknowledge that eBeaches has had some implementation problems, including periods of downtime when states were unable to submit their data, and states have had difficulty compiling the data and getting it into EPA’s desired format. EPA is working to centralize its databases so that states can more easily submit information and expects the data reporting will become easier for states as they further develop their system. Provide technical assistance on floatable materials—The BEACH Act required EPA to provide technical assistance to help states, tribes, and localities develop their own assessment and monitoring procedures for floatable debris in coastal recreational waters. EPA responded by publishing guidance titled Assessing and Monitoring Floatable Debris in August 2002. The guidance provided examples of monitoring and assessment programs that have addressed the impact of floatable debris and examples of mitigation activities to address floatable debris. Provide a report to Congress on status of BEACH Act implementation— The BEACH Act required EPA to report to Congress 4 years after enactment of the act and every 4 years thereafter on the status of implementation. EPA completed its first report for Congress, Implementing the BEACH Act of 2000: Report to Congress in October 2006, which was 2 years after the October 2004 deadline. EPA officials noted that they missed the deadline because they needed additional time to include updates on current research and states’ BEACH Act implementation activities and to complete both internal and external reviews. EPA has not yet completed the following two BEACH Act requirements: Conduct epidemiological studies—The BEACH Act required EPA to publish new epidemiological studies concerning pathogens and the protection of human health for marine and freshwater by April 10, 2002, and to complete the studies by October 10, 2003. The studies were to: (1) assess potential human health risks resulting from exposure to pathogens in coastal waters; (2) identify appropriate and effective pathogen indicator(s) to improve the timely detection of pathogens in coastal waters; (3) identify appropriate, accurate, expeditious, and cost-effective methods for detecting the presence of pathogens; and (4) provide guidance for state application of the criteria. EPA initiated its multiyear National Epidemiological and Environmental Assessment of Recreational Water Study in 2001 in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The first component of this study was to develop faster pathogen indicator testing procedures. The second component was to further clarify the health risk of swimming in contaminated water, as measured by these faster pathogen indicator testing procedures. While EPA completed these studies for freshwater–– showing a promising relationship between a faster pathogen indicator and possible adverse health effects from bacterial contamination––it has not completed the studies for marine water. EPA initiated marine studies in Biloxi, Mississippi, in the summer of 2005, 3 years past the statutory deadline for beginning this work, but the work was interrupted by Hurricane Katrina. EPA initiated two additional marine water studies in the summer of 2007. Publish new pathogen criteria—The BEACH Act required EPA to use the results of its epidemiological studies to identify new pathogen indicators with associated criteria, as well as new pathogen testing measures by October 2005. However, since EPA has not completed the studies on which these criteria were to be based, this task has been delayed. In the absence of new criteria for pathogens and pathogen indicators, states continue to use EPA’s 1986 criteria to monitor their beaches. An EPA official told us that EPA has not established a time line for completing these two remaining provisions of the BEACH Act but estimates it may take an additional 4-5 years. One EPA official told us that the initial time frames in the act may not have been realistic. EPA’s failure to complete studies on the health effects of pathogens for marine waters and failure to publish revised water quality criteria for pathogens and pathogen indicators prompted the Natural Resources Defense Council to file suit against EPA on August 2, 2006, for failing to comply with the statutory obligations of the BEACH Act. To ensure that EPA complies with the requirements laid out in the BEACH Act, we recommended that it establish a definitive time line for completing the studies on pathogens and their effects on human health, and for publishing new or revised water quality criteria for pathogens and pathogen indicators. While EPA distributed approximately $51 million in BEACH Act grants between 2001 and 2006 to the 35 eligible states and territories, its grant distribution formula does not adequately account for states’ widely varied beach monitoring needs. When Congress passed the BEACH Act in 2000, it authorized $30 million in grants annually, but the act did not specify how EPA should distribute grants to eligible states.