[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 5916-5917]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                OMNIBUS EMISSIONS REDUCTION ACT OF 2005

  Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise today in support of S. 730, the 
Omnibus Emissions Reduction Act of 2005, that has been introduced by 
Senator Leahy of Vermont and myself. Our legislation is the only 
comprehensive legislation that aims to control mercury emissions for 
all major sources of mercury pollution and stop releases of this toxic 
pollutant into the environment.
  Mercury is a liquid metal that damages the nervous system through 
ingestion or inhalation, and is a particularly damaging toxic pollutant 
in the case of pregnant women and children. This is an alarming problem 
and I am pleased to note that our bill offers much greater protections 
for the public's health than the recently released Environmental 
Protection Agency's mercury emissions rule that simply will not get the 
job done.
  Our bill addresses the problem of how mercury pollution gets into our 
environment. Mercury, which is contained in coal and emitted up through 
smokestacks into the atmosphere as the coal is burned, is then 
transported through the air and carried downwind for hundreds and 
hundreds of miles where, unfortunately for Maine and every State along 
the way, it falls to Earth in snow and rain. The mercury ends up in our 
lakes, rivers, and streams where it is then ingested by fish, and in 
turn by humans when they eat the fish from these freshwater sources.
  The legislation directs the Environmental Protection Agency to 
promulgate mercury emissions standards for unregulated sources on a 
much more aggressive timetable to reduce mercury emissions as soon as 
possible. Our bill stops pollution at its source by requiring a ninety 
percent reduction of mercury emissions from coal-fired powered plants 
by 2010, rather than by 22 percent by 2010 as the administration's 
recent rule calls for.
  The Leahy-Snowe bill also addresses mercury releases from other 
sources as well, all the way from commercial and industrial boilers and 
chlor-alkali plants, to requiring labeling products containing mercury 
as simple as a mercury thermometer.
  Mercury, as we have historically thought of it, brings to mind the 
ancient Roman messenger of the gods, or the symbol that made us all 
proud, that of a small Mercury capsule carrying a lone astronaut into 
space.

[[Page 5917]]

  Mercury, as we are now coming to know it, is one of the most toxic 
substances in our environment, causing great neurologic damage if 
ingested by humans. There is growing concern around the country about 
mercury contamination, especially in the freshwater lakes in the 
northeast, and the risk it posses to those most vulnerable: young 
children, infants, and the unborn.
  Mercury emissions are affecting our wildlife as well. In Maine, the 
beautiful common loon with its haunting call has been known as a symbol 
of conservation--and even appears on license plates, the cost of which 
funds conservation efforts. The haunting call is now coming from 
biologists whose studies show that, besides the threats to humans, the 
loons and other birds, such as the bald eagle, may now be having 
trouble reproducing or fighting diseases because of mercury ingestion.
  The Leahy-Snowe Act also aims to reduce transboundary atmospheric and 
surface mercury pollution by directing the EPA to work with Canada and 
Mexico to inventory the sources and pathways of mercury air and water 
pollution within North America. The bill dovetails nicely with the 
actions the State of Maine has taken and also the goals of the Mercury 
Action Plan of the Conference of Northeast Governors and Eastern 
Canadian Premiers.
  This bill will go a long way towards developing a much needed 
solution to the problem of mercury emissions in the environment, and I 
look forward to the day when the fish advisories are lifted on all of 
our lakes in Maine so that its citizens can enjoy fuller use of their 
environment, and also reap greater economic benefits from its natural 
resources. This goal will not be easy to reach as our environment is 
already impacted with past and current mercury pollution.
  However, the Maine Legislature has already taken a significant step 
toward this goal by establishing a state program to help Maine cities 
and towns keep mercury products out of the trash. Trash disposal, 
especially incineration, is one of the primary ways we introduce 
mercury to the Northeast's environment.
  Under Maine law, some mercury products such as thermometers and 
thermostats had to be labeled beginning in 2002. Also by 2002, 
businesses were required to recycle the mercury in these products. 
Starting this year, a similar requirement applies to homeowners.
  Maine has taken an excellent step forward to decrease regional 
mercury pollution, but realistically no one State or region can solve 
its mercury pollution problems. What is needed is a nationwide 
information system and controls for mercury releases starting with the 
largest polluters. We know that polluted air does not stop at State 
borders or even international boundaries. And, on the horizon is the 
fact that the burning coal continues to rapidly increase in developing 
nations around the globe.
  I want to thank Senator Leahy for his hard work in highlighting the 
problem of mercury emissions through the introduction of this 
legislation. This introduction will bring the problem before Congress 
and the public, to spark debate, and to begin a dialogue, especially 
with those industries that will be affected by any curbs in emissions 
and from those people most directly affected by the mercury emissions.
  I look forward to working with Senator Leahy and my Senate colleagues 
to come up with a fair solution and one that will truly protect the 
public's health from this pervasive toxic mercury pollution problem.

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