[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1533 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1533

   To provide for the establishment of a national mercury monitoring 
                                program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 15, 2007

  Mr. Allen introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
                    Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide for the establishment of a national mercury monitoring 
                                program.

    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 ``Comprehensive National Mercury 
Monitoring Program Establishment Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Mercury is a potent neurotoxin of significant 
        ecological and public health concern. Exposure to mercury 
        occurs largely by consumption of contaminated fish. Children 
        and women of childbearing age who consume large amounts of fish 
        are at high risk of adverse effects. It is estimated that 
        200,000 to 400,000 children born each year in the United States 
        have been exposed to mercury levels in their mothers' wombs 
        high enough to impair neurological development. The Centers for 
        Disease Control and Prevention have found that eight percent of 
        the women in the United States of childbearing age have blood 
        mercury levels in excess of values deemed safe by the 
        Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) As of 2004, fish consumption advisories due to mercury 
        contamination have been issued for 44 States, including 21 
        statewide advisories for freshwaters and 12 statewide 
        advisories for coastal waters. These advisories represent more 
        than 52,000 square kilometers of lakes and 1,230,000 kilometers 
        of rivers. Yet, fish and shellfish are an important source of 
        dietary protein, and a healthy fishing resource is important to 
        the economy. The extent of fish consumption advisories 
        underscores the extensive human and ecological health risk 
        posed by mercury pollution.
            (3) In most locations, the primary route for mercury input 
        to aquatic ecosystems is by atmospheric transport and 
        deposition. Mercury's interaction with the environment and 
        bioaccumulation in biota are not fully understood. Computer 
        models and other assessment tools predict varying effectiveness 
        in reducing mercury concentrations in fish, and no broad-scale 
        data sets exist to test model predictions.
            (4) In September 2003, the Society of Environmental 
        Toxicology and Chemistry convened a workshop of 32 mercury 
        scientists to develop a system to measure and document changes 
        resulting from reductions in mercury emissions in the United 
        States. The resulting plan is documented in the book ``State of 
        Science for Mercury Effects: Assessment for Aquatic and 
        Terrestrial Environments'', published in 2007.
            (5) On January 1, 2005, ``Monitoring the Response to 
        Changing Mercury Deposition'' was published in the periodical 
        Environmental Science and Technology. The article proposed a 
        ``holistic, multimedia, long-term mercury monitoring program''.
            (6) Many regulations limiting mercury emissions have either 
        gone into effect or will soon be enacted, but scientists are 
        not adequately measuring the environmental benefits of reduced 
        mercury emissions. As governments advance regulations, 
        governments should document whether their rules are effective.
            (7) On May 15, 2006, the Office of Inspector General of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency issued a report entitled, 
        ``Monitoring Needed to Assess Impact of EPA's Clean Air Mercury 
        Rule (CAMR) on Potential Hotspots'', Report No. 2006-P-0025, 
        which states, in part: ``Without field data from an improved 
        monitoring network, EPA's ability to advance mercury science 
        will be limited and `utility-attributable' hotspots that pose 
        health risks may occur and go undetected'' and ``We recommend 
        that EPA develop and implement a mercury monitoring plan to (1) 
        assess the impact of CAMR, if adopted, on mercury deposition 
        and fish tissue; and (2) evaluate and refine mercury estimation 
        tools and models''.
            (8) On January 4, 2007, ``Contamination in Remote Forest 
        and Aquatic Ecosystems in the Northeastern U.S.: Sources, 
        Transformations and Management Options'' and ``Biological 
        Mercury Hotspots in the Northeastern U.S. and Southeastern 
        Canada'' were published in the journal BioScience. The authors 
        identified five biological mercury hotspots and nine areas of 
        concern in the northeastern United States and southeastern 
        Canada associated primarily with atmospheric mercury emissions 
        and deposition. They further located an area of particularly 
        high mercury deposition adjacent to a coal-fired electric 
        utility in southern New Hampshire. The authors of the studies 
        concluded that local impacts from mercury emissions should be 
        closely monitored in order to assess the impact of State and 
        Federal policies.

SEC. 3. MONITORING PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--The Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency, in consultation with the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service, the United States Geological Survey, the Forest 
Service, the National Park Service, and the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, shall establish a national scale mercury 
monitoring program. For purposes of such program, the Administrator of 
the Environmental Protection Agency shall select multiple monitoring 
sites in ecoregions of the United States.
    (b) Air and Watershed.--The program under this section shall 
monitor long-term changes in mercury levels in the air and watershed, 
including--
            (1) at locations selected under subsection (a) that the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency determines 
        appropriate, measuring and recording wet mercury deposition;
            (2) at a portion of such locations that the Administrator 
        of the Environmental Protection Agency determines is 
        appropriate, measuring and recording atmospheric mercury 
        speciation and estimates of the dry deposition of mercury;
            (3) at a portion of such locations that the Administrator 
        of the Environmental Protection Agency determines is 
        appropriate, measuring and recording mercury flux and mercury 
        export; and
            (4) measuring and recording the level of mercury re-emitted 
        from aquatic and terrestrial environments into the atmosphere.
    (c) Water and Soil Chemistry.--The program under this section shall 
monitor mercury levels in water and soil chemistry, including--
            (1) at a portion of all locations selected under subsection 
        (a) that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
        Agency determines is appropriate, extracting and analyzing 
        sediment cores;
            (2) measuring and recording total mercury concentration, 
        methyl mercury concentration, and percent methyl mercury in 
        surface sediments;
            (3) measuring and recording total mercury concentration and 
        methyl mercury concentration in surface water; and
            (4) at a portion of such locations that the Administrator 
        of the Environmental Protection Agency determines is 
        appropriate, measuring and recording total mercury 
        concentrations and methyl mercury concentrations throughout the 
        water column.
    (d) Aquatic Plants and Animals.--The program under this section 
shall monitor mercury levels in plants and animals, including--
            (1) measuring and recording methyl mercury levels in 
        yearling fish;
            (2) measuring and recording mercury levels, and other 
        scientific data relevant to assessing the health of the fish 
        population, in commercially or recreationally important fish;
            (3) measuring and recording mercury levels in the 
        appropriate tissue in reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals; 
        and
            (4) at a portion of all locations selected under subsection 
        (a) that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
        Agency determines is appropriate, measuring and recording 
        mercury levels in phytoplankton, algae, zooplankton, and 
        benthic invertebrates.
    (e) Selection of Monitoring Sites.--The Administrator of the 
Environmental Protection Agency shall, not later than 12 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act and in coordination with the 
Scientific Advisory Committee, recommend appropriate sites for 
monitoring under the program established under this section.

SEC. 4. SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

    (a) Establishment.--There shall be established a Scientific 
Advisory Committee to advise the Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency on the establishment, site selection, and operation 
of the national mercury monitoring program under this Act.
    (b) Membership.--The Scientific Advisory Committee shall consist of 
scientists who are not employees of the Federal Government, including--
            (1) 3 scientists appointed by the Administrator of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency;
            (2) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the United 
        States Fish and Wildlife Service;
            (3) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the National 
        Park Service;
            (4) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the Forest 
        Service;
            (5) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the United 
        States Geological Survey; and
            (6) 2 scientists appointed by the Administrator of the 
        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

SEC. 5. REPORTS AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.

    (a) Reports.--The Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
Agency shall transmit to Congress a report on the program under this 
Act not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
every 2 years thereafter. Once every 4 years, such report shall include 
an assessment of the reduction in mercury deposition rates that must be 
achieved in order to prevent adverse ecological effects.
    (b) Availability of Data.--All data obtained pursuant to this Act 
shall be made available to the public.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated for carrying out this Act--
            (1) for fiscal year 2008--
                    (A) to the Environmental Protection Agency 
                $7,000,000;
                    (B) to the United States Geological Survey 
                $4,500,000;
                    (C) to the Fish and Wildlife Service $4,500,000; 
                and
                    (D) to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration $2,000,000;
            (2) for fiscal year 2009--
                    (A) to the Environmental Protection Agency 
                $5,000,000;
                    (B) to the United States Geological Survey 
                $3,000,000;
                    (C) to the Fish and Wildlife Service $3,000,000; 
                and
                    (D) to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration $1,000,000;
            (3) for fiscal year 2010--
                    (A) to the Environmental Protection Agency 
                $5,250,000;
                    (B) to the United States Geological Survey 
                $3,250,000;
                    (C) to the Fish and Wildlife Service $3,250,000; 
                and
                    (D) to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration $1,250,000; and
            (4) such sums as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 
        2011 through 2013 to the Environmental Protection Agency, the 
        United States Geological Survey, the Fish and Wildlife Service, 
        and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    For purposes of this Act:
            (1) Ecoregion.--The term ``ecoregion'' means a large area 
        of land and water that contains a geographically distinct 
        assemblage of natural communities, including similar land 
        forms, climate, ecological processes, and vegetation.
            (2) Mercury export.--The term ``mercury export'' means 
        mercury flux from a watershed to the corresponding water body, 
        or from one water body to another (e.g. a lake to a river), 
        generally expressed as mass per unit time.
            (3) Mercury flux.--The term ``mercury flux'' means the rate 
        of transfer of mercury between ecosystem components (e.g. 
        between water and air), or between portions of ecosystem 
        components, expressed in terms of mass per unit time or mass 
        per unit area per time.
            (4) Surface sediment.--The term ``surface sediment'' means 
        sediment in the top 2 centimeters of a lakebed or riverbed.
                                 <all>