[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 843 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 843

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 12, 2007

 Ms. Collins (for herself, Mr. Lieberman, and Mrs. Clinton) introduced 
the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee 
                    on Environment and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) mercury is a potent neurotoxin of significant 
        ecological and public health concern;
            (2) exposure to mercury occurs largely by consumption of 
        contaminated fish, and children and women of childbearing age 
        who consume large quantities of fish are at high risk of 
        suffering adverse effects;
            (3) it is estimated that more than 630,000 children born 
        each year in the United States are exposed to elevated methyl 
        mercury in the womb and are at risk of impaired neurological 
        development;
            (4) 8 percent of women in the United States of childbearing 
        age have blood mercury levels in excess of values determined to 
        be safe by the Environmental Protection Agency;
            (5) as of 2004, fish consumption advisories due to mercury 
        contamination have been issued for 44 States, including 21 
        statewide advisories for freshwater and 12 statewide advisories 
        for coastal water;
            (6) those advisories represent more than 52,000 square 
        kilometers of lakes and 1,230,000 kilometers of rivers;
            (7) fish and shellfish are an important source of dietary 
        protein, and a healthy fishing resource is important to the 
        economy of the United States;
            (8) the extent of fish consumption advisories underscores 
        the extensive human and ecological health risk posed by mercury 
        pollution;
            (9) the interaction of mercury with the environment and 
        bioaccumulation in biota are not fully understood;
            (10) 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;
            (11) 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;
            (12) on January 1, 2005, an article entitled ``Monitoring 
        the Response to Changing Mercury Deposition''--
                    (A) was published in the periodical Environmental 
                Science and Technology; and
                    (B) proposed a ``holistic, multimedia, long-term 
                mercury monitoring program'';
            (13) many regulations limiting mercury emissions have taken 
        effect or will soon be promulgated, but scientists are not 
        adequately measuring the environmental benefits of reduced 
        mercury emissions;
            (14) on May 18, 2005, the Administrator of the 
        Environmental Protection Agency, using results generated by a 
        computer model that were not peer reviewed or verified by 
        actual measurements, finalized the Clean Air Mercury Rule (70 
        Fed. Reg. 28606 (May 18, 2005));
            (15) as governments advance proposals for the regulation of 
        mercury and mercury emissions, the governments should document 
        whether regulations already or soon to be in effect achieve the 
        desired results;
            (16) 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'', and numbered 2006-P-0025, 
        that states, in part--
                    (A) ``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
                    (B) ``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'';
            (17) on January 9, 2007, numerous individuals published a 
        paper in the journal entitled ``BioScience'' that identified 
        the location of biological mercury hotspots in the northeastern 
        region of the United States and the southeastern region of 
        Canada, including--
                    (A) David Evers and Wing Goodale of the 
                BioDiversity Research Institute in Gorham, Maine;
                    (B) Charles Driscoll of Syracuse University;
                    (C) Kathleen Fallon Lambert of the Hubbard Brook 
                Research Foundation in Hanover, New Hampshire;
                    (D) Neil Kamman of the Vermont Department of 
                Environmental Conservation; and
                    (E) other concerned individuals;
            (18) on January 9, 2007, Charles Driscoll and other 
        concerned individuals published a paper in the journal entitled 
        ``BioScience'' that established a link between--
                    (A) mercury contamination in forest and freshwater 
                ecosystems located in the northeastern region of the 
                United States; and
                    (B) mercury emissions generated by electric 
                utilities, incinerators, and industrial processes; and
            (19) those papers published in the journal entitled 
        ``BioScience''--
                    (A) demonstrated the importance of the use of 
                mercury measurements in addition to modeling results; 
                and
                    (B) indicated the need for a comprehensive 
                nationwide mercury monitoring program.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) Advisory committee.--The term ``Advisory Committee'' 
        means the Mercury Monitoring Advisory Committee established by 
        section 5(a).
            (3) 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.
            (4) Mercury export.--The term ``mercury export'' means 
        mercury flux from a watershed to the corresponding water body, 
        or from 1 water body to another (e.g. a lake to a river), 
        generally expressed as mass per unit time.
            (5) 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.
            (6) Surface sediment.--The term ``surface sediment'' means 
        sediment in the uppermost 2 centimeters of a lakebed or 
        riverbed.

SEC. 4. MONITORING PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--The Administrator, 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.
            (2) Monitoring sites.--In carrying out paragraph (1), not 
        later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
        Administrator shall select multiple monitoring sites in 
        ecoregions of the United States.
    (b) Air and Watersheds.--The program under this section shall 
monitor long-term changes in mercury levels in the air and watersheds, 
including--
            (1) at such locations or portions of locations selected 
        under subsection (a)(2) as the Administrator determines to be 
        appropriate, the measurement and recording of--
                    (A) wet mercury deposition;
                    (B) dry deposition of mercury; and
                    (C) mercury flux and mercury export; and
            (2) at all locations selected under subsection (a)(2), the 
        measurement and recording of the level of mercury reemitted 
        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 such locations or portions of locations selected 
        under subsection (a)(2) as the Administrator determines to be 
        appropriate--
                    (A) extraction and analysis of sediment cores; and
                    (B) measurement and recording of total mercury 
                concentrations and methyl mercury concentrations 
                throughout the water column; and
            (2) at all locations selected under subsection (a)(2)--
                    (A) measurement and recording of total mercury 
                concentration, methyl mercury concentration, and 
                percent methyl mercury in surface sediments; and
                    (B) measurement and recording of total mercury 
                concentration and methyl mercury concentration in 
                surface water.
    (d) Aquatic Plants and Animals.--The program under this section 
shall monitor mercury levels in plants and animals, including--
            (1) at all locations selected under subsection (a)(2), 
        measurement and recording of--
                    (A) methyl mercury levels in yearling fish;
                    (B) mercury levels, and other scientific data 
                relevant to assessment of the health of the fish 
                population, in commercially or recreationally important 
                fish; and
                    (C) mercury levels in the appropriate tissue in 
                reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals; and
            (2) at such locations or portions of locations selected 
        under subsection (a)(2) as the Administrator determines to be 
        appropriate, measurement and recording of mercury levels in 
        phytoplankton, algae, zooplankton, and benthic invertebrates.

SEC. 5. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a scientific advisory 
committee, to be known as the ``Mercury Monitoring Advisory 
Committee'', to advise the Administrator with respect to the 
establishment and operation (including the location of sampling sites) 
of the national mercury monitoring program under this Act.
    (b) Membership.--The Advisory Committee shall consist of at least 
13 scientists who are not employees of the Federal Government, 
including--
            (1) 3 scientists appointed by the Administrator;
            (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. 6. REPORTS AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE.

    (a) Reports.--
            (1) Biennial report.--Not later than 2 years after the date 
        of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the 
        Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on the program 
        under this Act.
            (2) Quadrennial assessment.--In the second biennial report 
        submitted under paragraph (1), and in the biennial report 
        submitted every 4 years thereafter, the Administrator shall 
        include an assessment of the reduction in mercury deposition 
        rates that would be required to be achieved in order to prevent 
        adverse ecological effects.
    (b) Availability of Data.--The Administrator shall make all data 
obtained pursuant to this Act available to the public.

SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act--
            (1) for fiscal year 2008--
                    (A) to the Environmental Protection Agency 
                $9,000,000;
                    (B) to the United States Geological Survey 
                $4,500,000;
                    (C) to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
                $4,500,000; and
                    (D) to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration $1,000,000;
            (2) for fiscal year 2009--
                    (A) to the Environmental Protection Agency 
                $6,000,000;
                    (B) to the United States Geological Survey 
                $3,000,000;
                    (C) to the United States 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 
                $6,500,000;
                    (B) to the United States Geological Survey 
                $3,250,000;
                    (C) to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service 
                $3,250,000; and
                    (D) to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration $1,000,000; and
            (4) such sums as are necessary for each of fiscal years 
        2011 through 2013 to--
                    (A) the Environmental Protection Agency;
                    (B) the United States Geological Survey;
                    (C) the United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 
                and
                    (D) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
                Administration.
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