[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1534 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1534

To prohibit the sale, distribution, or transfer of mercury, to prohibit 
             the export of mercury, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    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 prohibit the sale, distribution, or transfer of mercury, to prohibit 
             the export of mercury, and for other purposes.

    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 ``Mercury Export Ban Act of 2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) mercury is highly toxic to humans, ecosystems, and 
        wildlife;
            (2) as many as 10 percent of women in the United States of 
        childbearing age have mercury in the blood at a level that 
        could put a baby at risk;
            (3) as many as 630,000 children born annually in the United 
        States are at risk of neurological problems related to mercury;
            (4) the most significant source of mercury exposure to 
        people in the United States is ingestion of mercury-
        contaminated fish;
            (5) the Environmental Protection Agency reports that, as of 
        2004--
                    (A) 44 States have fish advisories covering over 
                13,000,000 lake acres and over 750,000 river miles;
                    (B) in 21 States the freshwater advisories are 
                statewide; and
                    (C) in 12 States the coastal advisories are 
                statewide;
            (6) the long-term solution to mercury pollution is to 
        minimize global mercury use and releases to eventually achieve 
        reduced contamination levels in the environment, rather than 
        reducing fish consumption since uncontaminated fish represents 
        a critical and healthy source of nutrition worldwide;
            (7) mercury pollution is a transboundary pollutant, 
        depositing locally, regionally, and globally, and affecting 
        water bodies near industrial sources (including the Great 
        Lakes) and remote areas (including the Arctic Circle);
            (8) the free trade of mercury on the world market, at 
        relatively low prices and in ready supply, encourages the 
        continued use of mercury outside of the United States, often 
        involving highly dispersive activities such as artisinal gold 
        mining;
            (9) the intentional use of mercury is declining in the 
        United States as a consequence of process changes to 
        manufactured products (including batteries, paints, switches, 
        and measuring devices), but those uses remain substantial in 
        the developing world where releases from the products are 
        extremely likely due to the limited pollution control and waste 
        management infrastructures in those countries;
            (10) the member countries of the European Union 
        collectively are the largest source of mercury exports 
        globally;
            (11) the European Commission has proposed to the European 
        Parliament and to the Council of the European Union a 
        regulation to ban exports of mercury from the European Union by 
        2011;
            (12) the United States is a net exporter of mercury and, 
        according to the United States Geological Survey, exported 506 
        metric tons of mercury more than the United States imported 
        during the period of 2000 through 2004; and
            (13) banning exports of mercury from the United States will 
        have a notable affect on the market availability of mercury and 
        switching to affordable mercury alternatives in the developing 
        world.

SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON SALE, DISTRIBUTION, OR TRANSFER OF MERCURY.

    Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2605) is 
amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(f) Mercury.--
            ``(1) Prohibition on sale, distribution, or transfer of 
        mercury by federal agencies.--Except as provided in paragraph 
        (2), effective beginning on the date of enactment of this 
        subsection, no Federal agency shall convey, sell, or distribute 
        to any other Federal agency, any State or local government 
        agency, or any private individual or entity any elemental 
        mercury under the control or jurisdiction of the Federal 
        agency.
            ``(2) Exception.--Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a 
        transfer between Federal agencies of elemental mercury for the 
        sole purpose of facilitating storage of mercury to carry out 
        this Act.''.

SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON EXPORT OF MERCURY.

    Section 12 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2611) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (a) by striking ``subsection (b)'' and 
        inserting ``subsections (b) and (c)''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Prohibition on Export of Mercury.--
            ``(1) Prohibition.--Effective January 1, 2010, the export 
        of elemental mercury from the United States is prohibited.
            ``(2) Inapplicability of subsection (a).--Subsection (a) 
        shall not apply to this subsection.
            ``(3) Report to congress on mercury compounds.--
                    ``(A) Report.--Not later than one year after the 
                date of enactment of the Mercury Export Ban Act of 
                2007, the Administrator shall publish and submit to 
                Congress a report on mercuric chloride, mercurous 
                chloride or calomel, mercuric oxide, and other mercury 
                compounds, if any, that may currently be used in 
                significant quantities in products or processes. Such 
                report shall include an analysis of--
                            ``(i) the sources and amounts of each of 
                        the mercury compounds produced annually in the 
                        United States or imported into the United 
                        States;
                            ``(ii) the purposes for which each of these 
                        compounds are used domestically, the amount of 
                        these compounds currently consumed annually for 
                        each purpose, and the estimated amounts to be 
                        consumed for each purpose in 2010 and beyond;
                            ``(iii) the sources and amounts of each 
                        mercury compound exported from the United 
                        States annually in each of the last three 
                        years;
                            ``(iv) the potential for these compounds to 
                        be processed into elemental mercury after 
                        export from the United States; and
                            ``(v) other information that Congress 
                        should consider in determining whether to 
                        extend the export prohibition to include one or 
                        more of these mercury compounds.
                    ``(B) Procedure.--For the purpose of preparing the 
                report under this paragraph, the Administrator may 
                utilize the information gathering authorities of this 
                title, including sections 10 and 11, except that 
                subsection (b)(2) of section 11 shall not apply to 
                activities under this subparagraph.''.

SEC. 5. EXCESS MERCURY STORAGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

    (a) Amendment.--Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act is 
amended by adding at the end the following new section:

``SEC. 32. EXCESS MERCURY STORAGE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is established an advisory committee, 
to be known as the `Excess Mercury Storage Advisory Committee' 
(referred to in this section as the `Committee').
    ``(b) Membership.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Committee shall be composed of 9 
        members, of whom--
                    ``(A) 2 members shall be jointly appointed by the 
                Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 
                Majority Leader of the Senate--
                            ``(i) 1 of whom shall be designated to 
                        serve as Chairperson of the Committee; and
                            ``(ii) 1 of whom shall be designated to 
                        serve as Vice-Chairperson of the Committee;
                    ``(B) 1 member shall be the Administrator;
                    ``(C) 1 member shall be the Secretary of Defense;
                    ``(D) 1 member shall be a representative of State 
                environmental agencies;
                    ``(E) 1 member shall be a representative of State 
                attorneys general;
                    ``(F) 1 member shall be a representative of the 
                chlorine industry;
                    ``(G) 1 member shall be a representative of the 
                mercury waste treatment industry; and
                    ``(H) 1 member shall be a representative of a 
                nonprofit environmental organization.
            ``(2) Appointments.--Not later than 45 days after the date 
        of enactment of this section, the Administrator, in 
        consultation with the appropriate congressional committees, 
        shall appoint the members of the Committee described in 
        subparagraphs (D) through (H) of paragraph (1).
    ``(c) Initial Meeting.--Not later than 30 days after the date on 
which all members of the Committee have been appointed, the Committee 
shall hold the initial meeting of the Committee.
    ``(d) Meetings.--The Committee shall meet at the call of the 
Chairperson.
    ``(e) Quorum.--A majority of the members of the Committee shall 
constitute a quorum.
    ``(f) Report.--Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of 
this section, the Committee shall submit to Congress a report 
describing the findings and recommendations of the Committee, if any, 
relating to--
            ``(1) the environmental, health, and safety requirements 
        necessary to prevent--
                    ``(A) the release of elemental mercury into the 
                environment; and
                    ``(B) worker exposure from the storage of elemental 
                mercury;
            ``(2) the estimated annual cost of storing elemental 
        mercury on a per-pound or per-ton basis;
            ``(3) for the 40-year period beginning on the date of 
        submission of the report, the optimal size, number, and other 
        characteristics of Federal facilities required to store 
        elemental mercury under current and anticipated jurisdictions 
        of each Federal agency;
            ``(4) the estimated quantity of--
                    ``(A) elemental mercury that will result from the 
                decommissioning of mercury cell chlor-alkali facilities 
                in the United States; and
                    ``(B) any other supplies that may require storage 
                to carry out this Act;
            ``(5) for the 40-year period beginning on the date of 
        submission of the report, the estimated quantity of elemental 
        mercury generated from the recycling of unwanted products and 
        other wastes that will require storage to comply with the 
        export prohibitions under this Act;
            ``(6) any legal, technical, economic, or other barrier that 
        may prevent the private sector from storing elemental mercury 
        produced by the private sector during the 40-year period 
        beginning on the date of submission of the report, including a 
        description of measures to address the barriers;
            ``(7) the advantages and disadvantages of consolidating the 
        storage of mercury produced by public and private sources under 
        the management of the public or private sector;
            ``(8) the optimal plan of the Committee for storing excess 
        mercury produced by public and private sources; and
            ``(9) additional research, if any, required to determine a 
        long-term disposal option for the storage of excess mercury.
    ``(g) Compensation of Members.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Non-federal employees.--A member of the 
                Committee who is not an officer or employee of the 
                Federal Government shall be compensated at a rate equal 
                to the daily equivalent of the annual rate of basic pay 
                prescribed for level V of the Executive Schedule under 
                section 5316 of title 5, United States Code, for each 
                day (including travel time) during which the member is 
                engaged in the performance of the duties of the 
                Committee.
                    ``(B) Federal employees.--A member of the Committee 
                who is an officer or employee of the Federal Government 
                shall serve without compensation in addition to the 
                compensation received for the services of the member as 
                an officer or employee of the Federal Government.
            ``(2) Travel expenses.--A member of the Committee shall be 
        allowed travel expenses, including per diem in lieu of 
        subsistence, at rates authorized for an employee of an agency 
        under subchapter I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States 
        Code, while away from the home or regular place of business of 
        the member in the performance of the duties of the Committee.
    ``(h) Staff and Funding.--The Administrator shall provide to the 
Committee such funding and additional personnel as are necessary to 
enable the Committee to perform the duties of the Committee.
    ``(i) Termination.--The Committee shall terminate 180 days after 
the date on which the Committee submits the report of the Committee 
under subsection (f).''.
    (b) Table of Contents Amendment.--The table of contents of the 
Toxic Substances Control Act is amended by adding after the item 
relating to section 31 the following new item:

``Sec. 32. Excess Mercury Storage Advisory Committee.''.
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