1.This Act may be cited as the
Mercury Pollution Reduction
Act of 2009
.
2.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 their bloodstreams at a level that could pose risks to their unborn
babies, and hundreds of thousands of children born annually in the United
States are at risk of neurological problems relating to mercury exposure in
utero;
(3)the most
significant source of mercury exposure to people in the United States is
ingestion of mercury-contaminated fish;
(4)the long-term
solution to mercury pollution is to minimize global mercury use and releases of
mercury 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 for people worldwide;
(5)mercury pollution
is a transboundary pollutant that—
(A)is deposited
locally, regionally, and globally; and
(B)affects bodies of
water near industrial areas, such as the Great Lakes, as well as bodies of
water in remote areas, such as the Arctic Circle;
(6)of the
approximately 30 plants in the United States that produce chlorine, only 5 use
the obsolete mercury cell
chlor-alkali process, and 4 have not
yet committed to phasing out mercury use;
(7)(A)less than 5 percent of
the total quantity of chlorine and caustic soda produced in the United States
comes from the chlor-alkali plants described in paragraph (6) that use the
mercury cell chlor-alkali process;
(B)cost-effective alternatives are
available and in use in the remaining 95 percent of chlorine and caustic soda
production; and
(C)other countries, including Japan, have
already banned the mercury cell chlor-alkali process;
(8)the chlor-alkali
industry acknowledges that—
(A)mercury can
contaminate products manufactured at mercury cell facilities; and
(B)the use of some of
those products results in the direct and indirect release of mercury;
(9)despite those
quantities of mercury known to have been used or to be in use, neither the
chlor-alkali industry nor the Environmental Protection Agency is able—
(A)to adequately
account for the disposition of the mercury used at those facilities; or
(B)to accurately
estimate current mercury emissions; and
(10)it is critically
important that the United States work aggressively toward the minimization of
supply, demand, and releases of mercury, both domestically and
internationally.
3.Congress declares that
the United States should develop policies and programs that will—
(1)reduce mercury use
and emissions within the United States;
(2)reduce mercury
releases from the reservoir of mercury currently in use or circulation within
the United States; and
(3)reduce exposures
to mercury, particularly exposures of women of childbearing age and young
children.
4.Use of mercury in
chlorine and caustic soda manufacturing
(a)Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C.
2601 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 6 the following:
6A.Use of mercury
in chlorine and caustic soda manufacturing
(a)In
this section:
(1)The term chlor-alkali facility
means a
facility used for the manufacture of chlorine or caustic soda using a mercury
cell process.
(2)Hazardous waste;
solid wasteThe terms hazardous waste
and
solid waste
have the meanings given those terms in section 1004
of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903).
(b)Prohibition; use
prior to prohibition
(1)Effective on the date 24 months after the
enactment of this section, the manufacture of chlorine or caustic soda using
mercury cells is prohibited in the United States and the export of any mercury,
mercury cells, mercury compounds, and mixtures containing mercury by any person
is prohibited.
(2)Within 24 months
after the enactment of this section, the Secretary of Energy shall develop a
system for the storage of all mercury, mercury cells, mercury compounds, and
mixtures containing mercury if such mercury, cell, compound, or mixture is from
a chlor-alkali facility.
(c)
(1)Not later than 24 months after the enactment of this
section, the owner or operator of each chlor-alkali facility shall submit to
the Administrator and the State in which the chlor-alkali facility is located a
report that identifies—
(A)each type and
quantity of mercury-containing hazardous waste and nonhazardous solid waste
generated by the chlor-alkali facility during the preceding calendar
year;
(B)the mercury
content of the wastes;
(C)the manner in which
each waste was managed, including the location of each offsite location to
which the waste was transported for subsequent handling or management;
(D)the volume of
mercury released, intentionally or unintentionally, into the air or water by
the chlor-alkali facility, including mercury released from emissions or
vaporization;
(E)the volume of
mercury estimated to have accumulated in pipes and plant equipment of the
chlor-alkali facility, including a description of—
(i)the applicable
volume for each type of equipment; and
(ii)methods of
accumulation; and
(F)the quantity and
forms of mercury found in all products produced for sale by the chlor-alkali
facility.
(2)To avoid duplication, the Administrator may permit
the owner or operator of a facility described in paragraph (1) to combine and
submit the report required under this subsection with any report required to be
submitted by the owner or operator under subtitle C of the Solid Waste Disposal
Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.).
(d)
(1)For each chlor-alkali facility that ceases operations on
or after January 1, 2009, not later than 1 year after the date of cessation of
operations, the Administrator, in consultation with the State in which the
facility is located, shall conduct a comprehensive mercury inventory covering
the life and closure of the chlor-alkali facility, taking into account—
(A)the total quantity
of mercury purchased to start and operate the chlor-alkali facility;
(B)the total quantity
of mercury remaining in mercury cells and other equipment at the time of
closure of the chlor-alkali facility;
(C)the estimated
quantity of mercury in hazardous waste, nonhazardous solid waste, and products
generated at the chlor-alkali facility during the operational life of the
chlor-alkali facility; and
(D)the estimated
aggregate mercury releases from the chlor-alkali facility into air and other
environmental media.
(2)In carrying out paragraph (1), the Administrator is
authorized and directed to obtain mercury purchase records and such other
information from each chlor-alkali facility as are necessary to determine, as
accurately as practicable from available information, the magnitude and nature
of mercury releases from the chlor-alkali facility into air and other
environmental media.
(3)This
Administrator shall use the authorities of section 11 and any other appropriate
authorities of this Act to carry out this
subsection.
.
(b)
(1)The table of contents of the Toxic Substances Control
Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 note) is amended by inserting after the item relating to
section 6 the following:
Sec. 6A. Use of mercury in chlorine and
caustic soda
manufacturing.
.
(2)Section
15 of such Act is amended by striking out or 6
and inserting
, 6, or 6A
in each place it appears.