Our plan, which EPA adopted today, not only will help keep Americans healthy, it will help keep our economy healthy. And it shows that we can work together to get the job done.
This plan will make sure that treatment facilities warn the public when they dump sewage into local waterways.
We need more federal help for local communities to control runoff and update their aging sewage systems.
The corps is not following the law, and drinking water supplies, wildlife habitat and flood protection could be lost as a result.
Our joint effort produced a plan that goes a long way to protect public health, and we're pleased that the EPA moved so quickly to endorse it. More than 7 million Americans get sick from waterborne illnesses every year. Our solution will ensure that those numbers come down.
The presumption should be that you don't need to do this.
We encourage the EPA to develop standards to prevent not just bacterial but also viral illnesses from swimming in polluted waters. Right now we do not know if the standards meet both.
