US CapitolFor the last year you've been hearing from Sloggers about the widespread problem of sewage spills and overflows in the U.S. and particularly how the public is all too often left unaware of the problem for days, weeks even months. Act for Healthy Rivers, and it's campaign supporters, have worked hard to make sure the public knows when sewage spills occur. With your support and the pressure you've helped put on Congress we are one step closer to having federal law to protect the public from dangerous sewage spills. Yesterday afternoon, lawmakers in the House of Representatives passed Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and Rep. Frank LoBiondo's (R-NJ) landmark bill requiring sewage treatment plants to notify the public in the event of a sewage spill. When contaminated tomatoes were discovered in supermarkets, they were pulled from the shelf. We need the same warning when our waterways are polluted. Next stop the Senate.

On Tuesday, I had the opportunity to testify on the Sewage Right to Know Bill (H.R. 2452) at a hearing in the House of Representatives. Talk about nervous... but it wasn't as bad as it could have been given that bill sponsors Rep. Bishop (D-NY) and Rep. LoBiondo (R-NJ) were chairing the hearing.

After finally getting some rest and allowing the dust to settle I'm very happy to say that River Action Day was a major success. About 90 river advocates from all over the country took to Capitol Hill to be the voice of their hometown rivers in the halls of Congress. As always, this event helped raise the political profile of several important pieces of river legislation that Congress is considering, including the Sewage Overflow Right to Know Act now pending in both the House and Senate. All told, River Action Day participants attended more than 200 congressional meetings and their presence was felt and seen on both sides of the Capitol.