69 



As aet«a in th« KSCC Raport/ K«v J«rs«y's progrua oan b* 



oea'tro«fc*d wi-tb as otUar ae«at«l aLALs* whleb albbaf Co aoc 



meal tor regularly or only hav* limitad prograi&a. Whil* not avary 

 atata would vlsh to eonduot a prograa aa axtanaiva as Nsw 

 Jersey 'a, we do feel that there should be aooa mlalnun level of 

 proteotlon offered to all of the nation' a oltlBans. It would be 

 eonforting to know that Hew Jeraeyans are aa protected if they 

 go awlDmlng elsewhere in the nation aa they are at hooa. The 

 enaotment of HR 31 would promote aueh proteotlon. 



By many aeaaurea. Mew Jerseys prograa is an unqualified 

 suooess. I have attached a eopy of the 1992 Annual Report of Nav 

 Jeraey'a cooperative Coastal Monitoring Prograa aa an appendix 

 to this testimony. In 1988, one of the worat yeara on reoord for 

 the atata 'a ahorea and tourism industry/ over 700 beaoh oloaura 

 days were reported. In 1991, the number had dropped to ten and 

 in 1992, 27. (The inerease was due to non-point aourca pollution 

 reaulting from five atraight daya of heavy rainfall in Auguat 

 1992.) 8o far in 1993, there have been no health-based closures 

 to date. Another factor which makes our program a auccaaa ia the 

 fact that the monitoring often initiates the inveatigatlon and 

 subsequent elimination or remediation of the source of the 

 pollution. 



There is, however, a down aide to New Jeraeys program in 

 that very often the public and the preaa evaluataa the 

 cleanliness of a state's beaches baaed on the nuaber of olosuraa 

 which occur. Thia puta a atata ia a situation where, because it 

 requires regular testing, there ia greater likelihood that 

 elevated readings leading to closures may result. On the other 

 hand, if no or limited tests were performed, no beaches would be 

 olosed regardless of the levels of 



