| In
1996, over 2,500 beaches in the United States were posted with warnings
or closed for at least one day because the water was contaminated.
Today, many beaches are either not monitored well or not monitored
at all, so Americans continue to face risks of illness from swimming
and other activities in coastal areas, lakes, and rivers that contain
disease-causing microbes.
On Wednesday, April 20, 2004, we announced the Administration’s
Clean Beaches strategy. The strategy includes, among other things,
a Clean Beaches Plan.
By carrying out the Clean Beaches Plan, we are helping state,
tribal, and local beach managers strengthen their programs. A
strategy for reducing the risks of infection to people who use
our recreational waters, the Plan recognizes that beach managers
need tools that allow for local and regional differences in pollution
sources and climate. The Clean Beaches Plan describes what we
plan to do over the next couple of years to achieve two major
goals: promote recreational water quality programs nationwide
and create scientific improvements that support timely recreational
water monitoring and reporting. The actions
listed in the table below describe our plans:
- Press
Release: Bush administration makes strong commitment to
clean beaches (April 20, 2004)
- Letter from
James L. Connaughton, CEQ and John D. Graham, OMB to Benjamin
H. Grumbles, EPA (April 16, 2004) (PDF, 65KB, 2 pages)
- Response letter
from Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA to James L. Connaughton, CEQ
and John D. Graham, OMB (April 19, 2004) regarding EPA's Commitment
to Clean Beaches (PDF, 60KB, 2 pages)
Please contact healy.richard@epa.gov
for section 508 accessible letters.
Actions and activities
| Activity |
Description |
Target Date |
| Letters to States |
Letters to states and territories reiterating
BEACH
Act requirement to adopt criteria as protective as EPA's
current criteria, and describing EPA's planned actions to
make sure protective standards are in place |
Completed |
List
of Beaches
|
Updated list of beaches on coastal
and Great Lakes waters including identification of beaches
subject to a monitoring and notification program. Required
by BEACH
Act |
Completed |
Grants
Availability
|
Annual grants to states, tribes and territories
to develop and implement a beach monitoring and notification
program to give public information about health conditions
at beaches |
Completed |
| Proposed
Bacteria Rule |
Statute requires states and territories to adopt
criteria as protective of health as EPA's current pathogen
criteria by April 10, 2004. If not, EPA must promptly propose
water quality standards |
Completed |
| Final Bacteria Rule |
EPA issued a final rule establishing national
bacteria standards |
Completed |
| Bacteria
Implementation Guidance |
As needed, additional guidance for implementing
EPA's 1986 pathogen criteria in water quality standards, beach,
TMDL, and permitting programs |
Ongoing |
| Draft Revised Monitoring Guidance |
Update to monitoring component of 2002 performance
criteria guidance to provide details (e.g., numbers of samples,
methods, locations, etc.) of pathogen monitoring |
July 31 for comment |
| Epidemiological
Studies |
Two additional studies to develop better pathogen
indicators of illnesses at beaches. (Two of nine already completed.)
Multi-year effort required by BEACH
Act conducted by EPA's Office of Research and Development |
At beaches in June, July, and August 2004 |
| 2003 Beach Report |
Updated report on beach closings and advisories
during 2003 calendar year |
August 31 |
| National
Beach Conference |
Meeting of state beach program leaders to exchange
information and learn from each others' successes, sponsored
by EPA's Office of Water |
October 13 |
| Draft Report to Congress |
Report on progress of BEACH
Act implementation, required by statute |
December 31 |
|
New Pathogen Criterion
|
Development of new water quality criteria for
protection of swimmers, based on epidemiological studies.
Required by BEACH
Act |
Statutory deadline
October 2005 |
top of page
Map of States and Territories covered under
the BEACH Act
Map (PDF, 111KB) of coastal
recreation waters as defined by Clean Water Act Section 502, as
amended by the BEACH
Act.
top of page
Related References
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Clean Beach Plan Navigation
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