3.0.0 2335 2023-01-11T13:32:24Z 2023-01-11T13:32:24Z Senate S 2015-12-01 114 ssev00 Environment and Public Works Committee Senate Standing Referred to 2015-12-01T18:19:28Z Beach Act of 2015 114 4136 HR 2015-12-01 Referred to the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. Identical bill CRS 2015-12-01 ssev00 Environment and Public Works Committee Senate Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. IntroReferral 2015-12-01 Introduced in Senate IntroReferral 10000 9 Library of Congress M000639 Sen. Menendez, Robert [D-NJ] Robert Menendez D NJ N Environmental Protection Aquatic ecology Climate change and greenhouse gases Environmental assessment, monitoring, research Environmental health Government information and archives Government studies and investigations Infectious and parasitic diseases Marine and coastal resources, fisheries Marine pollution Outdoor recreation Seashores and lakeshores Water quality Environmental Protection 00 2015-12-01 Introduced in Senate 2016-08-15T17:09:29Z Beach Act of 2015

This bill amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (commonly known as the Clean Water Act) to revise and reauthorize through FY2020 a grant program for monitoring, and notifying the public of, any pathogens in coastal recreation waters bordering public beaches.

The bill reauthorizes through FY2018 the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000.

The bill establishes requirements with respect to: (1) using rapid testing methods to detect unsafe levels of pathogens or pathogen indicators in those waters, and (2) notifying governmental agencies when pathogens exceed water quality standards. Those methods must provide testing results within four hours of receiving a sample. Communication with governments must occur within two hours of the receipt of the results of water quality samples.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must assess state and local compliance with coastal recreation water quality monitoring and notification legal requirements and grant conditions. The bill limits federal support of grants to non-compliant state or local governments. The Government Accountability Office must review the EPA's compliance assessments and corrective actions.

States with coastal recreation waters must adopt the most protective water quality criteria and standards practicable for pathogens.

The EPA must: (1) update the national list of beaches that are used by the public regardless of the presence of a lifeguard within 12 months and biennially thereafter (currently, periodically); (2) study the long-term impact of climate change on pathogenic contamination of coastal recreation waters; and (3) study the impacts of excess nutrients on coastal recreation waters.

]]> Beach Act of 2015 Display Title Beach Act of 2015 Official Title as Introduced A bill to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act relating to beach monitoring, and for other purposes. Introduced in Senate IS Short Titles as Introduced Beach Act of 2015 Introduced in Senate 2015-12-01T05:00:00Z https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/BILLS-114s2335is/xml/BILLS-114s2335is.xml 2015-12-01 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works. text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain. Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress This file contains bill summaries and statuses for federal legislation. A bill summary describes the most significant provisions of a piece of legislation and details the effects the legislative text may have on current law and federal programs. Bill summaries are authored by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress. As stated in Public Law 91-510 (2 USC 166 (d)(6)), one of the duties of CRS is "to prepare summaries and digests of bills and resolutions of a public general nature introduced in the Senate or House of Representatives". For more information, refer to the User Guide that accompanies this file.