The U.S. Library of Congress is involved in a project to document distinctive cultural traditions for future generations of Americans. This national project, called "Local Legacies" will provide "snapshots" of everyday life in America at the turn of the century. New Jersey Representatives of the U.S. Congress have nominated 27 projects from the state of New Jersey for the Library of Congress Bicentennial Celebration. Clean Ocean Action’s Beach Sweeps was one of the projects nominated as a "Local Legacy".

The primary objective of the Local Legacies project is to document aspects of our nation’s diverse cultural heritage and assemble a selection of the documentary material at the Library of Congress to share with all Americans. The documentation of these "local legacies" will be celebrated during a special event in May 2000, to which all participants from across the country and their Senators and Congressional Representatives will be invited. Later, the documentary material will be added to the Library’s collection and a rich section of it made available on-line on the World Wide Web.

Clean Ocean Action has chosen to produce a video explaining the history and purpose of the 15 year old Beach Sweeps. An integral element in the video is the explanation of the importance of data collection during each Sweeps and how the data help track pollution trends. It is further explained how the data enable Clean Ocean Action and other organizations to track pollution to its sources and help combat non-point source pollution.

The 15 minute video produced by Mary-Beth Thompson features the staff of Clean Ocean Action, New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone, volunteers and sponsors of the Beach Sweeps. The video entitled "Clean Ocean Action Beach Sweeps: A Local Legacy" was made possible by donations from Lucent Technologies, Bell Atlantic and New Jersey Natural Gas.