167 



WRITTEN TESTIMONY SUBMITTED BY THE 



CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES 



BEFORE THE JOINT HEARING OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE 



ON MERCHANT MARINE AND FISHERIES SUBCOMMITTEE 



ON OCEANOGRAPHY, GULF OF MEXICO AND THE OUTER 



CONTINENTAL SHELF AND THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON 



ENVIRONMENTAL AND NATURAL RESOURCES 



WASHINGTON, D.C. 



JULY 15, 1993 



The California Department of Health Services appreciates the 

 opportunity to comment on the Beaches Environmental Assessment, 

 Closure, and Health Act of 1993 (H.R. 31), The Department of 

 Health Services is generally responsible for determining the 

 appropriate water quality standards needed to protect public 

 health even though those standards may be enforced by another 

 agency. Recreational standards for coastal waters, for example, 

 have been adopted by the Department of Health Services but are 

 enforced by the State and Regional Water Quality Control Boards 

 and local health departments. 



California is obviously very concerned with maintaining the 

 safety of the State's coastal waters since we have more than 800 

 miles of coastline and over 30 million people who may at one time 

 or another utilize those coastal waters. Coastal recreation, 

 particularly in Southern California, is an important activity for 

 many Californian's as well as a significant attraction to the 

 millions of tourists who visit the State. 



Due to our concern over saltwater body-contact recreation, 

 California adopted bacterial standards for such waters in the 



73-065 0-93-7 



