EPA Granting Funds to Monitor Bacterial Infestation in US Beaches

The majority funding goes to a group of six states—Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

Beachgoers in Huntington Beach, Calif., on June 19, 2024. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will provide $9.7 million in grant funding to states to be used for monitoring bacterial presence at beaches and assessing the safety of these places for beachgoers, the agency said in a May 23 statement.

Funds shall be used to monitor the quality of water at coastal and Great Lakes beaches, with grant recipients required to “notify the public if elevated levels of illness-causing bacteria make swimming unsafe,” the EPA said.