[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 906 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







110th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 906

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 15, 2007

  Mr. Obama (for himself and Ms. Murkowski) introduced the following 
bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment 
                            and Public Works

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To prohibit the sale, distribution, transfer, and export of elemental 
                    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 Market Minimization Act of 
2007''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) mercury and mercury compounds are 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 and mercury compounds 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 Union is in the process of enacting 
        legislation that will prohibit mercury exports by not later 
        than 2011;
            (12) the United States is a net exporter of mercury and, 
        according to the United States Geologic 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 BY 
              DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OR DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY.

    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) Elemental mercury.--Effective January 1, 2010, the 
        export of elemental mercury from the United States is 
        prohibited.
            ``(2) Report to congress on mercury compounds.--
                    ``(A) Report.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Not later than 1 year 
                        after the date of enactment of the Mercury 
                        Market Minimization 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.
                            ``(ii) Inclusions.--The report shall 
                        include an analysis of--
                                    ``(I) the sources and amounts of 
                                each mercury compound produced annually 
                                in, or imported into, the United 
                                States;
                                    ``(II)(aa) the purposes for which 
                                each of the compounds are used 
                                domestically;
                                    ``(bb) the quantity of the 
                                compounds currently consumed annually 
                                for each purpose; and
                                    ``(cc) the estimated quantity of 
                                the compounds to be consumed for each 
                                purpose during calendar year 2010 and 
                                thereafter;
                                    ``(III) the sources and quantities 
                                of each mercury compound exported from 
                                the United States during each of the 
                                preceding 3 calendar years;
                                    ``(IV) the potential for the 
                                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 1 or more of 
                                those mercury compounds.
                    ``(B) Procedure.--
                            ``(i) In general.--Except as provided in 
                        clause (ii), for the purpose of preparing the 
                        report under this paragraph, the Administrator 
                        may use the information gathering authorities 
                        of this title, including sections 10 and 11.
                            ``(ii) Exception.--Subsection (b)(2) of 
                        section 11 shall not apply to activities under 
                        this subparagraph.
            ``(3) 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 
                paragraph as the `Committee').
                    ``(B) Membership.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Committee shall be 
                        composed of 9 members, of whom--
                                    ``(I) 2 members shall be jointly 
                                appointed by the Speaker of the House 
                                of Representatives and the Majority 
                                Leader of the Senate--
                                            ``(aa) 1 of whom shall be 
                                        designated to serve as 
                                        Chairperson of the Committee; 
                                        and
                                            ``(bb) 1 of whom shall be 
                                        designated to serve as Vice-
                                        Chairperson of the Committee;
                                    ``(II) 1 member shall be the 
                                Administrator;
                                    ``(III) 1 member shall be the 
                                Secretary of Defense;
                                    ``(IV) 1 member shall be a 
                                representative of State environmental 
                                agencies;
                                    ``(V) 1 member shall be a 
                                representative of State attorneys 
                                general;
                                    ``(VI) 1 member shall be a 
                                representative of the chlorine 
                                industry;
                                    ``(VII) 1 member shall be a 
                                representative of the mercury waste 
                                treatment industry; and
                                    ``(VIII) 1 member shall be a 
                                representative of a nonprofit 
                                environmental organization.
                            ``(ii) Appointments.--Not later than 45 
                        days after the date of enactment of this 
                        subsection, the Administrator, in consultation 
                        with the appropriate congressional committees, 
                        shall appoint the members of the Committee 
                        described in subclauses (IV) through (VIII) of 
                        clause (i).
                    ``(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 subsection, the Committee shall 
                submit to Congress a report describing the findings and 
                recommendations of the Committee, if any, relating to--
                            ``(i) the environmental, health, and safety 
                        requirements necessary to prevent--
                                    ``(I) the release of elemental 
                                mercury into the environment; and
                                    ``(II) worker exposure from the 
                                storage of elemental mercury;
                            ``(ii) the estimated annual cost of storing 
                        elemental mercury on a per-pound or per-ton 
                        basis;
                            ``(iii) 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;
                            ``(iv) the estimated quantity of--
                                    ``(I) elemental mercury that will 
                                result from the decommissioning of 
                                mercury cell chlor-alkali facilities in 
                                the United States; and
                                    ``(II) any other supplies that may 
                                require storage to carry out this Act;
                            ``(v) 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;
                            ``(vi) 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;
                            ``(vii) 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;
                            ``(viii) the optimal plan of the Committee 
                        for storing excess mercury produced by public 
                        and private sources; and
                            ``(ix) additional research, if any, 
                        required to determine a long-term disposal 
                        option for the storage of excess mercury.
                    ``(G) Compensation of members.--
                            ``(i) In general.--
                                    ``(I) 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.
                                    ``(II) 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.
                            ``(ii) 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 subparagraph (F).
            ``(4) Inapplicability of unreasonable risk requirement.--
        Subsection (a) shall not apply to this subsection.''.
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