[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2190 Reported in House (RH)]

                                                 Union Calendar No. 222
111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2190

                          [Report No. 111-381]

   To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to phase out the use of 
mercury in the manufacture of chlorine and caustic soda, and for other 
                               purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 30, 2009

Ms. Schakowsky (for herself, Mr. Berman, Mr. Carnahan, Mr. Ellison, Ms. 
   DeLauro, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Farr, Mr. Hare, Ms. Hirono, Ms. Lee of 
 California, Mr. Moran of Virginia, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Pallone, Mr. 
 Sestak, Ms. Woolsey, Ms. Watson, Ms. Norton, Mr. Blumenauer, and Mr. 
   Price of North Carolina) introduced the following bill; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

                           December 16, 2009

    Additional sponsors: Mr. Smith of Washington, Ms. DeGette, Mr. 
Kucinich, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Rothman of New Jersey, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, 
Ms. Tsongas, Mr. Doggett, Mr. Hall of New York, Ms. Speier, Mrs. Capps, 
  Ms. Baldwin, Mr. Filner, Mr. Payne, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Miller of North 
  Carolina, Mr. Holt, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mr. Delahunt, Mr. Hinchey, Mr. 
   Honda, Mr. Connolly of Virginia, Ms. McCollum, Mr. Courtney, Mr. 
   Wexler, Mr. George Miller of California, Mr. Walz, Mr. Hodes, Mr. 
      Lipinski, Mr. Massa, Ms. Slaughter, Mr. Inslee, Ms. Berkley,

                           December 16, 2009

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
 [Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed 
                               in italic]
 [For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on April 
                               30, 2009]





_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to phase out the use of 
mercury in the manufacture of chlorine and caustic soda, 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 Pollution Reduction Act''.

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 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 7 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.

SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY.

    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.

SEC. 4. USE OF MERCURY IN CHLORINE AND CAUSTIC SODA MANUFACTURING.

    (a) In General.--Title I of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 
U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section 6 the 
following:

``SEC. 6A. USE OF MERCURY IN CHLORINE AND CAUSTIC SODA MANUFACTURING.

    ``(a) Definition of Chlor-alkali Facility.--In this section, the 
term `chlor-alkali facility' means a facility used for the manufacture 
of chlorine or caustic soda using a mercury cell process.
    ``(b) Prohibition.--
            ``(1) In general.--Except as otherwise provided in this 
        subsection, it shall be unlawful to manufacture chlorine or 
        caustic soda using mercury cells at any facility in the United 
        States.
            ``(2) Notice.--The owner or operator of any existing chlor-
        alkali facility shall notify the Administrator no later than 
        June 30, 2012, whether it will--
                    ``(A) replace its chlor-alkali facility with a new 
                manufacturing facility that does not use mercury; or
                    ``(B) cease operations.
            ``(3) Closure.--A chlor-alkali facility for which a closure 
        notice is filed under paragraph (2)(B) shall cease 
        manufacturing chlorine or caustic soda using mercury cells no 
        later than June 30, 2013.
            ``(4) Replacement.--A chlor-alkali facility for which a 
        replacement notice is filed under paragraph (2)(A) may continue 
        to manufacture chlorine or caustic soda using mercury cells 
        until all of the permitting, financing, engineering, and 
        construction of a non-mercury replacement facility is complete, 
        or June 30, 2015, whichever is earlier.
    ``(c) Export Ban.--Effective on the date of the enactment of this 
section, the export of any elemental mercury or the sale of elemental 
mercury for purposes of export, including compounds and mixtures 
containing elemental mercury, by the owner or operator of a chlor-
alkali facility is prohibited.
    ``(d) Savings Provision.--Nothing in this section affects the 
ability of the owner or operator of any chlor-alkali facility to store 
elemental mercury in accordance with section 5(g)(2) of the Mercury 
Export Ban Act of 2008 (42 U.S.C. 6939f).''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--(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) Paragraphs (1) and (2) of section 15 of such Act are each 
amended by striking ``or 6'' and inserting ``, 6 or 6A''.
                                                 Union Calendar No. 222

111th CONGRESS

  1st Session

                               H. R. 2190

                          [Report No. 111-381]

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to phase out the use of 
mercury in the manufacture of chlorine and caustic soda, and for other 
                               purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                           December 16, 2009

  Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole 
       House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed