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.
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.
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.