Under legislation making its way through Congress, beachgoers would find out sooner whether they should steer clear of the water.
A measure approved by the House on a voice vote last week would require speedier testing for coastal pollution and fund projects to track down sources of contamination.
Rep. John Boozman of Arkansas, the top Republican on the House subcommittee on water resources and environment, said the measure would “help ensure that the public can get timely warnings of potential health hazards associated with a trip to the beach.”
Congressional action came as the Natural Resources Defense Council reported that beach closings and advisories last year declined 10 percent. But that most likely was due to dry conditions and decreased funding for water monitoring, the group said.
Beach closings and advisories, often the result of aging sewage and stormwater systems, still exceeded 20,000 incidents nationwide in 2008, the fourth-highest number since 1990, the council reported.
The House-approved Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act would require the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a test by 2012 that could alert the public to contamination within hours of sampling, reducing the risk of exposure to disease-causing pathogens. A similar bill has cleared a Senate committee.
Currently, tests take 18 hours or longer to produce results.
“You get information on Friday that tells you whether the beach was clean on Thursday,” said Nancy Stoner, co-director of the Natural Resources Defense Council’s water program.
Once a faster test is developed, “you grab a sample at 7 in the morning and then you can post warning signs on the beach by 11 to let the public know whether or not it’s safe to swim,” said Mark Gold, president of Heal the Bay, a California environmental group.
Lawmakers have already moved on a separate front to increase funding for clean water projects, including those designed to prevent beach pollution. A House-approved bill would provide $2.3 billion for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, which helps state and local agencies pay for projects such as upgrading aging sewage-treatment plants and preventing runoff of polluted water. A bill headed to the Senate would provide $2.1 billion. About $689 million was provided this year.
Lawmakers are also considering the Sewage Overflow Community Right-To-Know Act, which would require treatment plants to alert the public to sewer overflows.
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