[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3391 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 3391

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


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            November 4, 2011

Ms. Pingree of Maine (for herself, Mr. Levin, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. Jackson 
 of Illinois, Ms. Schakowsky, and Mr. Welch) introduced the following 
    bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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 the following:
            (1) Mercury is a potent neurotoxin of significant 
        ecological and public health concern.
            (2) It is estimated that more than 410,000 children born 
        each year in the United States are exposed to levels of mercury 
        in the womb that are high enough to impair neurological 
        development.
            (3) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has 
        found that 6 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.
            (4) Exposure to mercury occurs largely by consumption of 
        contaminated fish. At the same time, fish and shellfish are an 
        important source of dietary protein, and a healthy fishing 
        resource is important to the economy of the United States.
            (5) Fish and shellfish contain high-quality protein and 
        other essential nutrients, are low in saturated fat, and 
        contain omega-3 fatty acids. A well-balanced diet that includes 
        a variety of fish and shellfish can contribute to heart health 
        and children's proper growth and development. A national 
        mercury monitoring network will provide consistent scientific 
        data on the status of this vital nutritional and commercial 
        resource.
            (6) In many locations, the primary route for mercury input 
        to aquatic ecosystems is atmospheric emissions, transport, and 
        deposition. Computer models and other assessment tools provide 
        varying effectiveness in predicting mercury concentrations in 
        fish and existing broad-scale data sets are insufficient to 
        test model predictions.
            (7) As the Federal Government and State governments advance 
        regulations to curb mercury emissions, such regulations should 
        be evaluated by a nationwide monitoring network that can 
        document whether such regulations are effective.

SEC. 3. MONITORING PROGRAM.

    (a) Establishment.--
            (1) In general.--The Administrator, in consultation with 
        the heads of applicable Federal agencies, shall establish a 
        long-term national-scale mercury monitoring program to track--
                    (A) long-term trends in atmospheric mercury 
                concentrations and deposition; and
                    (B) in response to changing mercury emissions over 
                time, mercury levels in--
                            (i) watersheds and surface waters; and
                            (ii) fish and wildlife in terrestrial, 
                        freshwater, and coastal ecosystems.
            (2) Monitoring sites.--
                    (A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the 
                date of enactment of this Act and in coordination the 
                Mercury Monitoring Advisory Committee, the 
                Administrator, in consultation with the heads of the 
                applicable Federal agencies, shall select multiple 
                monitoring sites for the mercury monitoring program 
                established under this section representing different 
                ecoregions of the United States.
                    (B) Locations.--Locations of monitoring sites for 
                the mercury monitoring program established under this 
                section shall include, national parks, national 
                wildlife refuges, national estuarine reserves, and 
                sensitive ecological areas in which substantive changes 
                are expected from reductions in domestic mercury 
                emissions. Such monitoring sites shall be co-located 
                with sites from other long-term environmental 
                monitoring programs, as practicable, including sites 
                associated with the National Ecological Observatory 
                Network, Long Term Ecological Research Network, and the 
                National Atmospheric Deposition Program.
            (3) Monitoring protocols.--Not later than 1 year after the 
        date of enactment of this Act and in coordination with the 
        Mercury Monitoring Advisory Committee, the Administrator shall 
        establish and publish standardized measurement protocols for 
        the mercury monitoring program established under this section, 
        including data assurance and quality standards consistent with 
        standards developed by the Federal Geographic Data Committee 
        for use by Federal agencies and other data gathering entities.
            (4) Data collection and distribution.--Not later than 1 
        year after the date of enactment of this Act and in 
        coordination with the Mercury Monitoring Advisory Committee, 
        the Administrator shall establish a centralized database for 
        existing and newly collected environmental mercury data that 
        can be freely accessed online once data assurance and quality 
        standards established by the Administrator under paragraph (3) 
        are met.
    (b) Air and Watersheds.--The mercury monitoring program established 
under this section shall monitor long-term changes in mercury levels in 
air and watersheds at sites selected under subsection (a)(2), including 
through--
            (1) the measurement and recording of wet, and estimation of 
        dry, mercury deposition, mercury flux, and mercury export;
            (2) the measurement and recording of the level of mercury 
        reemitted from aquatic and terrestrial environments into the 
        atmosphere; and
            (3) the measurement of sulfur species and ancillary 
        measurements at a portion of the monitoring sites to fully 
        understand the cycling of mercury through the ecosystem.
    (c) Water and Soil Chemistry.--The mercury monitoring program 
established under this section shall monitor long-term changes in 
mercury and methylmercury levels in water and soil at sites selected 
under subsection (a)(2), including through--
            (1) extraction and analysis of sediment cores;
            (2) measurement and recording of total mercury and 
        methylmercury concentration, and percent methylmercury in 
        surface sediments;
            (3) measurement and recording of total mercury and 
        methylmercury concentration in surface water; and
            (4) measurement and recording of total mercury and 
        methylmercury concentrations throughout the water column and 
        sediments.
    (d) Aquatic and Terrestrial Organisms.--The mercury monitoring 
program established under this section shall monitor long-term changes 
in mercury and methylmercury levels in the aquatic and terrestrial 
organisms at sites selected under subsection (a)(2), including 
through--
            (1) measurement and recording of total mercury and 
        methylmercury concentrations in zooplankton and other 
        invertebrates;
            (2) measurement and recording of total mercury and 
        methylmercury concentrations in yearling fish;
            (3) measurement and recording of total mercury and 
        methylmercury concentrations in commercially, recreationally, 
        or conservation relevant fish;
            (4) measurement and recording of total mercury 
        concentrations in selected insect- and fish-eating birds; and
            (5) measurement and recording of total mercury 
        concentrations in selected insect- and fish-eating mammals.

SEC. 4. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

    (a) Establishment.--There is established a scientific advisory 
committee, to be known as the ``Mercury Monitoring Advisory 
Committee'', to advise the Administrator and the heads of the 
applicable Federal agencies on the establishment, site selection, 
measurement, recording protocols, data integration, standardization 
protocols, reporting, funding, and operation of the national mercury 
monitoring program established under this Act.
    (b) Membership.--The Mercury Monitoring Advisory Committee shall 
consist of 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 United 
        States Geological Survey;
            (4) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the National 
        Park Service; and
            (5) 2 scientists appointed by the Administrator of the 
        National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

SEC. 5. REPORTS.

    Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and 
every 2 years thereafter, the Administrator shall transmit to Congress 
a report on the mercury monitoring program established under this Act, 
including trend data. Once every 4 years, such a report shall include 
an assessment of the reduction in mercury deposition rates that must be 
achieved in order to prevent adverse human and ecological effects.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act--
            (1) for fiscal year 2013, $37,000,000;
            (2) for fiscal year 2014, $29,000,000; and
            (3) for fiscal year 2015, $29,000,000.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
            (2) Applicable federal agency.--The term ``applicable 
        Federal agency'' may include the United States Fish and 
        Wildlife Service, the United States Geological Survey, the 
        National Park Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
        Administration, and any other Federal agency, bureau, or 
        department the Administrator determines relevant.
            (3) Ecoregion.--The term ``ecoregion'' means a large, as 
        determined by the Administrator, 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 one water body to another (such as 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 (such as 
        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) Mercury monitoring advisory committee.--The term 
        ``Mercury Monitoring Advisory Committee'' means the Mercury 
        Monitoring Advisory Committee established under section 4.
            (7) Surface sediment.--The term ``surface sediment'' means 
        sediment in the uppermost 2 centimeters of a lakebed or 
        riverbed.
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