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There can be no argument that today America is cleaner, safer and healthier than it was 25 years ago. Since the passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, we have doubled the miles of swimable and fishable rivers. Overall air pollution has declined by 24 percent since the Clean Air Act was passed in 1970 even though the number of vehicle miles traveled has more than doubled. And this remarkable progress has occurred at a time when the population grew by 25 percent and the economy by an impressive 77 percent.
We have good cause to celebrate KPAs Silver Anniversary — it has been a winning performance for all Americans. But, the job is far from over.
Only one-half of America's riv ers and streams are clean enough to support healthy and diverse populations of aquatic life, l ess than two-thirds ot our lakes and reservoirs are safe for fishing or shell fishing. Today onefifth of all Americans are served bv drinking water systems that do nol meet health reouirements. and in 1994 the nation still had 60 metropolitar areas did not meet air quality standards. We still have hundreds ot ok hazardous waste sites to clean up. anc each year we still have to content with thousands of accidental release: of oil, chemicals and radioactive sub
65.7%