New Rapid Methods in OC

Water Quality Kiosk on display at Orange County Beaches, photo: OCRegister

There has been some recent media attention paid to a new, rapid water testing and notification system that is being implemented at beaches in Orange County, CA this summer.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-adv-beach-testing-20100619,0,6214475.story

http://www.dailybreeze.com/latestnews/ci_15336061

http://www.ocregister.com/news/county-255495-water-orange.html

We've had some questions regarding how Surfrider chapters and activists might be able to get this new system employed at their own local beaches, as it gets water quality information to the public much faster than at most beaches in this country. This new beach monitoring system is part of a demonstration project run by the Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP). Surfrider has been a stakeholder and regular participant in meetings of the Beach Water Quality Workgroup of SCCWRP via Rick Wilson, for about 10 years. Part of the emphasis at SCCWRP for the last several years has been to encourage development, implementation and approval of test methods that are both faster and more accurate predictors of health problems than the current methods.

Should we start seeing these new systems pop up at other beaches soon? Not yet. Orange County and SCCWRP are way ahead of most of the nation in developing these rapid methods. Not only do these methods require a lot of capital do get a lab set up ( we are talking 50k plus), they also require a much higher degree of training on very specific genetic lab methods, that at this point, are not practical for volunteers or even many staff at the state and local health and enviro agencies that conduct beach monitoring programs.

Is this the way of the future? Most likely, but we aren't there yet. EPA has not approved these methods for use yet. EPA does not currently allow federal BEACH Act grant monies to be spent using these new methods. These federal dollars are in some locations are the sole or major source of funding for beach monitoring programs, so we are not at the point where we should be demanding our local authorities to be implementing these new technologies.

What can Surfrider activists do????

Plug into the action alert directed to the Senate to pass the latest version of the Beach Bill, which amongst other things, requires the EPA to approve new rapid testing methods.

There is a previous post on this blog that describes the history of the beach bill, what the new bill is proposing (including rapid methods) and its current status in Congress. This brief post, gives enough good info on this bill for a chapter to dive into this campaign. Quality and timely information on the status of our beach water is relevant everywhere. It is core to what we do.

Meanwhile, while Congress takes its time to reauthorize the BEACH Act, the EPA has been working on revising their water quality standards and approved testing methods as a result of a lawsuit NRDC filed a few years back. Revised water quality criteria and methods are due in the fall of 2012. I will post on EPA's progress towards this end soon.

Contact Mara Dias, mdias@surfrider.org to discuss your chapter getting more involved with the Beach Act campaign or improving local beach monitoring programs.

SAMOHI's Team Marine Students win Ocean Hero Award in Sancramento

Congratulations to the Team Marine students for a job well done educating their peers, community and political leaders on the importance of water and environmental issues. Team Marine participates in the West LA/Malibu Surfrider Chapter's Teach & Test Program. The following story describes their Ocean Hero Award and their field trip to the State Capitol.

On April 5th, during Spring Break, nine students on Santa Monica High School's Team Marine (Melanie Delia, Valerie Wacker, Megan Kilroy, Eileen Flores, Devany Garcia, Danny Franco, Raphael Mawrence, Jacob Hassett, Kou Collins) traveled by van to Sacramento to be part of Ocean Day at the California State Capitol Building on March 6. Representing the youth, the students met with various assembly members, senators, and staff to support different bills that would reduce plastic marine debris and curb carbon dioxide emissions. They also encouraged state officials to establish a comprehensive network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) that follow the scientific guidelines and draft new legislation that would make environmental sustainability a core subject in k-12 grade levels. The students also had a chance to lobby alongside various environmental organizations, including Heal the Bay.

That evening, Team Marine attended a formal reception and sustainable seafood banquet with numerous state officials and ocean advocates and was given an Ocean Hero Award by a California steering committee composed of CalCoast, Environment California, Heal the Bay, the NRDC, Ocean Conservancy, San Diego Coastkeeper, and Surfrider Foundation. Lester Snow, Secretary for Natural Resources welcomed the students that evening, and Mike Chrisman, a director for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and former Secretary for Natural Resources presented the award to the students for their many contributions toward protecting the marine environment. Returning home along the coast, Team Marine visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium and camped in beautiful Big Sur.

Valerie Wacker of Team Marine commented, " We were honored to be recognized by such important people. We were the only ones there who were under 30, and we were treated like adults."

Jacob Hassett of Team Marine remarked, "Being on Team Marine and receiving this prestigious award has made me realize that this generation of youth may have the gift that can change the world."

Raphael Mawrence of Team Marine stated, "Being in Sacramento with my peers was one of the most memorable experiences of my life and showed how the youth can make the greatest impact of all."

Coach Benjamin Kay said, "For both the students and us mentors, the experience was a crash-course in how state government operates, and we all learned so much. The students were very well received by all state officials, and it reinforced the importance of people voicing their opinions to their representatives."

Team Marine is an environmental science-based eco-action group of teens dedicated to raising awareness about sustainable solutions to the global climate, energy, and plastic pollution crises through scientific research, educational outreach, community service, pop art and culture, multimedia, social networking, and community partnerships. Team Marine is a former winner of the QuikSCience and Edison Challenges, Generation Earth's Most Sustainable Project Award, August R. Veenker Award, The Climate Community Citizen of the Week, and the My Better Lifestyle Award given by the Los Angeles Lakers and East West Bank. For more information, please see the students‚ website or their blog.

Re-authorizing the BEACH Act

The BEACH Act of 2000 is the federal law that sets national standards for recreational water testing and authorizes state grants to pay for beach monitoring programs. This landmark law was first championed by Surfrider Foundation a decade ago. In the past three years, multiple attempts to reauthorize the BEACH Act have been made in Congress. The House of Representatives has already approved reauthorization legislation twice now, but proponents of these bills have not been successful in securing a place on the agenda for the full Senate.

The latest bill, the Clean Coastal Environment & Public Health Act of 2009, will increase the amount of federal dollars that can be spent on beach water quality monitoring and will modernize the technology we rely on to protect the health of the beach-going public. It also expands the scope of the BEACH Act to include tracking and cleaning up the sources of beach water pollution.

The original BEACH Act of 2000 is responsible for vast improvements in beach monitoring programs across the country. All coastal states are now operate beach monitoring programs. The BEACH Act set national water quality monitoring and reporting standards and authorizes yearly grants to states for beach monitoring.

Unfortunately, perennial under-funding has prevented full state implementation of the BEACH Act and has left public health at risk in many instances. Although the BEACH Act authorizes $30 million to be awarded to coastal states annually to support their beach monitoring programs, the actual appropriation is usually just under $10 million each year. Because of inadequate funding, many state programs are under-staffed and do not have the resources to meet all of their testing requirements.

Continued reliance on out-dated science also hinders proper implementation of beach monitoring programs. Currently, approved water testing methodologies require a 24 hr lag time before results are available. New water testing methods are available now that can provide water quality information within two hours of sampling, but the EPA has yet to approve any new methods for beach monitoring programs. States are also unable to use their BEACH grants to track and clean-up any sources of beach pollution, so that we could truly see improvements at our beaches.

The Clean Coastal Environment and Public Health Act, HR 2093, was submitted to the House of Representatives by Members Pallone (NJ), Bishop (NY), and Bilbray (CA). Senator Lautenberg (NJ) submitted the companion bill, S 878, to the Senate.

As originally submitted, the Clean Coastal Environment & Public Health Act:

· Reauthorizes the BEACH Act of 2000 for 5 years;

· Doubles the amount of funding available to states, to $60 million, so that a greater number of beaches can be monitored and more frequent monitoring can be conducted;

· Allows funds to be used for pollution source detection and cleanup to prevent future incidences of closings and advisories;

· Requires EPA to approve and states to use rapid test methods for monitoring beach water pollution;

· Speeds up requirements to notify beachgoers immediately after contamination is found;

· Requires public health authorities to notify environmental agencies when contamination is found at the beach; and

· Requires compliance reviews to ensure that state and local programs receiving federal funds are meeting the minimum requirements of the BEACH Act.

HR 2093 was marked up by the House and now it only raises the funding level to $40 million. Language for pollution clean-up has been removed, and a study on the impacts of nutrient pollution has been added to the bill. S 878 has passed out of Senate Committee and is waiting to get on the agenda for consideration by the full Senate.

If you want to help support clean beaches and immediate access to critical water quality information send your Senators an email asking them to support the swift passage of the Clean Coastal Environment & Public Health Act. Just click here.

The full text of both the House and Senate versions of this bill can be found online.

For further reading, an evaluation of the BEACH Act of 2000 by the United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) can be viewed here.

BEACH Act Action Alert!

For the third year in a row, Congress is considering a bill to reauthorize the BEACH Act. This landmark law was first championed by Surfrider Foundation a decade ago.  The BEACH Act set federal water quality standards and provides federal dollars to states for beach monitoring programs.

The Clean Coastal Environment & Public Health Act of 2009 will increase the amount of federal dollars that can be spent on beach water quality monitoring and will modernize the technology we rely on to protect the health of the beach-going public. It also expands the scope of the BEACH Act to include tracking and cleaning up the sources of beach water pollution. A similar bill passed the House of Representatives last year, but languished in the Senate.

Urge your members of Congress to show their support for healthy beaches and robust coastal economies by cosponsoring the Clean Coastal Environment & Public Health Act of 2009. Don't let them put this off for yet another year!

Just click here to send a letter to your Representatives and Senators via Surfrider's Action Alert system.