The U.S. EPA will conduct by 2012 new public health studies and better testing methods as they relate to beachwater pollution, according to a settlement approved on September 5. Following a summer during which a record number of beach closures occurred, the improved guidelines will protect millions of beachgoers against a broader range of swimming-related illnesses and will provide rapid test results capable of detecting t hr eats on the same day they appear. NRDC originally sued EPA in May 2006 after the agency failed to meet deadlines to update its water quality standards and testing procedures, which do not screen against many water-borne pathogens and pollutants and take up to two days to complete. Additionally, EPA will begin to study the effects of storm water runoff, the biggest source of beach contamination. The guaranteed implementation of the standards in each state is contingent upon the passage of the Beach Protection Act in the U.S. Senate, according to Nancy Stoner, Director of NRDC’s Clean Water Project.