[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2391 Introduced in House (IH)]






109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2391

      To provide for the reduction of mercury in the environment.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 17, 2005

Ms. Baldwin (for herself, Mr. Burton of Indiana, Mr. Payne, Mr. Stark, 
  Ms. Lee, Mr. McDermott, Mr. Menendez, Mr. Owens, Ms. Jackson-Lee of 
    Texas, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Hastings of 
   Florida, and Mr. Wexler) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
      To provide for the reduction of mercury in the environment.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Safe Communities and Safe Schools 
Mercury Reduction Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds the following:
            (1) Mercury is a naturally occurring element and 
        bioaccumulative toxin that is easily absorbed through skin and 
        respiratory and gastrointestinal tissues.
            (2) Although mercury is naturally occurring, studies have 
        shown that its concentration has increased dramatically over 
        the past 150 to 200 years due to mining and industrial 
        activities.
            (3) Common sources of mercury released into the environment 
        include breakage of mercury-containing products like 
        fluorescent bulbs and thermometers, the manufacturing of 
        mercury-containing products, and incineration of mercury-
        containing products.
            (4) According to recent studies, mercury deposits are a 
        significant public health threat in many States throughout the 
        United States.
            (5) Fetuses, infants, and young children are at the 
        greatest risk from chronic low level mercury exposure.
            (6) A study by the Centers for Disease Control and 
        Prevention found that approximately 8 percent of women of 
        childbearing age in the United States had mercury levels 
        exceeding the level considered safe by the Environmental 
        Protection Agency for protecting the fetus. This translates 
        into approximately 60,000 babies born each year in the United 
        States at risk of developmental harm due to mercury exposure in 
        the womb.
            (7) A study published in the Journal of Obstetrics and 
        Gynecology found that elevated mercury exposures associated 
        with seafood could be linked to an increased risk of 
        infertility in both men and women.
            (8) Mercury pollution is widespread. As of early 2003, 43 
        States had issued mercury fish consumption advisories for one 
        or more freshwater or marine fish.
            (9) Mercury is the most common pollutant triggering fish 
        consumption advisories in the United States. The number of 
        mercury advisories has increased 138 percent from 1994 to 2002. 
        In 2002, mercury advisories covered 12,000,000 lake acres and 
        470,000 river miles.
            (10) According to the Mercury Study Report, prepared by the 
        Environmental Protection Agency and submitted to Congress in 
        1997, mercury fever thermometers contribute approximately 17 
        tons of mercury to solid waste each year.
            (11) Numerous mercury spills have been documented in 
        schools, often causing thousands of dollars to clean up. A 
        mercury spill in Washington, D.C., in September of 2003 cost 
        over $1,000,000 to clean up and resulted in a temporary school 
        closure of several weeks.
            (12) Mercury-containing thermostats generally contain 3 
        grams of mercury, which is enough mercury to poison a 60 acre 
        lake for one year.
            (13) Automobile scrapping is the fourth largest source of 
        mercury pollution nationwide, behind waste incineration, coal-
        fired power plants, and commercial and industrial boilers. It 
        is estimated that about 20,000 pounds of automotive mercury are 
        released each year in the United States.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency (in this Act referred to as the ``Administrator'') 
shall establish a program for making renewable grants to governmental 
and nonprofit agencies and organizations, and to for-profit entities, 
for projects to--
            (1) reduce harmful free-flowing elemental mercury and 
        mercury-added products from the environment;
            (2) safely dispose of or recycle harmful mercury;
            (3) educate communities and citizens about the harmful 
        effects of mercury;
            (4) develop and carry out a plan, in accordance with 
        guidance provided by the Administrator under section 5, on how 
        to eliminate free flowing mercury and instruments containing 
        mercury from the premises of K-12 public and private schools;
            (5) carry out a mercury thermometer exchange program; or
            (6) facilitate the recovery and safe disposal and 
        management of mercury-added components from automobiles.
    (b) Procedures and Selection Criteria.--The Administrator shall 
establish procedures for the selection of grant recipients under this 
section, including requirements that appropriate records and 
information be made available to the Administrator as necessary to 
ensure that grant funds are used for the purposes for which they are 
provided. Criteria for selection shall include--
            (1) strengths and weaknesses of the project;
            (2) adequacy of overall project design;
            (3) competency of proposed staff;
            (4) suitability of applicant's available resources;
            (5) appropriateness of the proposed project duration and 
        budget; and
            (6) probability that the project will accomplish stated 
        objectives.
    (c) Recycling Programs.--Funds provided through a grant provided 
under this section may be used for a recycling program only if more 
than 50 percent of the total material recycled under the program is 
mercury.
    (d) Automobile Components.--The Administrator shall encourage 
States to develop programs that facilitate the recovery and safe 
disposal and management of mercury-added component parts from 
automobiles. These programs should target the removal of mercury-added 
components when they are being replaced or removed from scrapped 
vehicles.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Administrator for carrying out this section 
$75,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 2006 through 2009.

SEC. 4. SALE OF THERMOMETERS; THERMOSTAT REPLACEMENT AND RECYCLING.

    (a) In General.--Subtitle C of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 
U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 3024. MERCURY.

    ``(a) Sale of Thermometers.--Effective beginning 180 days after the 
date of enactment of this section--
            ``(1) a person shall not sell or supply a mercury fever 
        thermometer to a consumer, except by prescription; and
            ``(2) with each mercury fever thermometer sold or supplied 
        by prescription, the manufacturer of the thermometer shall 
        provide clear instructions on--
                    ``(A) careful handling of the thermometer to avoid 
                breakage; and
                    ``(B) proper cleanup of the thermometer and its 
                contents in the event of breakage.
    ``(b) Thermostat Replacement.--Effective beginning 2 years after 
the date of enactment of this section--
            ``(1) a contractor who replaces a building thermostat in a 
        residential or commercial building shall dispose of the 
        replaced thermostat through a recycling program established or 
        participated in under paragraph (2); and
            ``(2) each manufacturer of building thermostats for 
        installation in a residential or commercial building shall--
                    ``(A) establish or participate in a program for the 
                safe and environmentally responsible recycling of 
                thermostats replaced by the manufacturer's thermostats; 
                and
                    ``(B) establish or participate in a program to 
                clearly educate individuals who sell or install the 
                manufacturer's thermostats about the program 
                established under subparagraph (A).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendment.--Section 1001 of the Solid Waste Disposal 
Act (42 U.S.C. prec. 6901) is amended by adding at the end of the items 
relating to subtitle C the following:

``Sec. 3024. Mercury.''.

SEC. 5. SCHOOL PREMISES GUIDANCE.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Administrator shall publish guidance to assist State and local 
governments to remove elemental free-flowing mercury and mercury-added 
instruments from the premises of public and private schools. 
Thermostats, computers, and motorized vehicles shall not be considered 
instruments for the purposes of this section.

SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
annually thereafter, the Administrator, after obtaining necessary 
information from appropriate State agencies, shall transmit to the 
Congress a report on the progress made under this Act. Such report 
shall include--
            (1) an executive summary;
            (2) a brief description of the background of this Act;
            (3) a State-by-State progress summary of mercury reduction 
        efforts relating to this Act, including a quantitative analysis 
        of the amount of mercury eliminated, recycled, or disposed of 
        in each State, and an identification of the method or program 
        responsible;
            (4) a description of grants and amounts awarded under 
        section 3, and of the criteria used for awarding those grants;
            (5) a summary of a few selected mercury reduction programs 
        that received grants, with a description of the success or 
        problems each program had;
            (6) a detailed financial reporting of total administration 
        costs of carrying out this Act;
            (7) a joint summary, by the Administrator and appropriate 
        State officials, that describes the coordination and 
        communication progress and problems between the Federal and 
        State Governments in carrying out this Act; and
            (8) recommendations for greater efficiency or improvement 
        of administration of this Act.

SEC. 7. MERCURY AMALGAM REDUCTION.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator shall issue guidelines that specify 
requirements for dentists to capture 90 percent or more of mercury-
laden amalgam when administering amalgam to, or recovering amalgam 
from, their patients.
    (b) Considerations.--The guidelines described in subsection (a) 
shall take into account--
            (1) Federal, State, and local mercury-laden amalgam 
        programs in existence;
            (2) current use of mercury-laden amalgam by dentists;
            (3) current waste management practices used by dental 
        offices and their mercury-laden amalgam capture rates;
            (4) the number of technologies that capture mercury-laden 
        amalgam, and their availability, capture rates, and 
        affordability;
            (5) the economic costs to dental offices in meeting the 90 
        percent capture requirements;
            (6) structural designs of office buildings that may 
        restrict technologies that can be used to capture mercury-laden 
        amalgam;
            (7) implementing a process in which dental offices can 
        request an exemption waiver from meeting these requirements;
            (8) geographic areas where the bioaccumulation of mercury-
        laden amalgam is more likely; and
            (9) lack of recycling or waste management programs or 
        infrastructure that supports the safe removal and management of 
        mercury-laden amalgam within reasonable proximities to dental 
        offices.
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