I

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1400

To amend the Clean Water Act to eliminate certain discharges of chlorine

compounds into navigable waters, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 5, 1995

Mr. RICHARDSON (for himself, Mr. NADLER, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, Mr. ACKERMAN, Mr. BERMAN, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. BROWN of California, Ms. ESHOO,

Mr. EVANS, Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA, Mr. FARR, Mr. FILNER, Mr. HINCHEY,

Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. PALLONE, Ms.

PELOSI, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. SABO, Mrs.

SCHROEDER, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. TORRES, Mr. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. VENTO,

Mr. WAXMAN, Ms. WOOLSEY, and Mr. YATES) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

A BILL

To amend the Clean Water Act to eliminate certain discharges of chlorine compounds into navigable waters,

and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Chlorine Zero Dis5 charge Act of 1995’’.
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1 SEC. 2. ZERO DISCHARGE OF TOXIC PERSISTENT AND

2 BIOACCUMULATIVE SUBSTANCES.

3 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—

4 (1) substances that persist and/or

5 bioaccumulate in the environment, build to higher

6 and higher concentration over time, reaching their

7 greatest levels in the tissues of species high on the

8 food chain, including humans;

9 (2) toxic substances that persist and/or

10 bioaccumulate in the environment are biologically ac11 tive in infinitesimal quantities, causing reproductive

12 failure, birth defects, developmental impairment,

13 hormonal disruption, behavioral disorders, immune

14 suppression, and cancer at low doses, and mixtures

15 of these substances may cause these effects at even

16 lower doses;

17 (3) regulatory approaches that permit even lim18 ited production and discharge of toxic substances

19 that persist and/or bioaccumulate result in the accu20 mulation of these substances in the environment and

21 food chain over time and subsequent damage to the

22 health of humans and other species;

23 (4) the most favored method of preventing the

24 continued contamination of the environment from

25 persistent or bioaccumulative toxic substances is to

26 phaseout their production and/or use over time and
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1 replace these substances or the processes that

2 produce them, or both, with safer alternatives;

3 (5) among the persistent and/or

4 bioaccumulative toxic substances of greatest concern

5 are organochlorines discharged in the production of

6 pulp and paper as a result of the use of chlorine or

7 any other chlorinated oxidizing agents in the pulp

8 and paper manufacturing process;

9 (6) the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

10 between the United States and Canada concludes

11 that ‘‘the discharge of toxic substances in toxic

12 amounts be prohibited and the discharge of any or

13 all persistent toxic substances be virtually elimi14 nated’’; and

15 (7) in the Sixth Biennial Report on Great

16 Lakes Water Quality, the International Joint Com17 mission on Great Lakes Water Quality concluded

18 that ‘‘the concepts of virtual elimination and zero

19 discharge are consistent and a clear statement or di20 rection to take to achieve the Agreement’s purpose.

21 The overall strategy or aim regarding persistent

22 toxic substances is virtual elimination, and the tactic

23 or method to be used to achieve the aim is through

24 zero input or discharge of those substances created

25 as a result of human activity.
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1 (b) ZERO DISCHARGE OF ORGANOCHLORINE COM2 POUNDS, BYPRODUCTS, OR METABOLITES.—Title III of

3 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act is amended by

4 redesignating section 519 as section 520 and by inserting

5 the following after section 518:

6 ‘‘SEC. 519. DISCHARGE OF ORGANOCHLORINE COMPOUNDS,

7 BYPRODUCTS, OR METABOLITES.

8 ‘‘(a) ZERO DISCHARGE.—(1) Effective 5 years after

9 the enactment of this section, each pulp and paper manu10 facturing facility shall achieve zero discharge into water

11 of organochlorine compounds, byproducts, or metabolites

12 formulated as a result of the use of chlorine or any other

13 chlorinated oxidizing agent in the pulp and paper manu14 facturing process.

15 ‘‘(2) Effective 5 years after enactment of this section,

16 all existing and new permits under this Act for paper and

17 pulp mills which use chlorine or any other chlorinated oxi18 dizing agent shall require compliance with the zero dis19 charge requirement set forth in paragraph (1).

20 ‘‘(b) SAFE ALTERNATIVES ASSISTANCE.—Within one

21 year after the enactment of this section, the Administrator

22 shall evaluate alternatives to the use of organochlorines

23 in the manufacturing of pulp and paper, and shall publish

24 a report on the transfer of technology in the pulp and

25 paper industry from organochlorine to chlorine-free tech-
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1 nology as a model for pollution prevention. Within 18

2 months after the enactment of this section, the Agency

3 shall begin providing technical information and support to

4 assist permit applicants in the use of alternatives to

5 organochlorine compounds in the production of pulp and

6 paper.

7 ‘‘(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON ORGANOCHLORINE

8 ZERO DISCHARGE CANDIDATES.—Within 18 months after

9 the enactment of this section, the Administrator shall

10 complete a report to Congress on nonpoint sources and

11 industrial discharges of organochlorine compounds and

12 their byproducts and metabolites into water. The report

13 shall include a listing of all types or categories of nonpoint

14 sources and industrial organochlorine discharges into

15 water and their byproducts and metabolites. The report

16 shall also include a listing of the annual quantities of each

17 organochlorine compound discharged into water nationally

18 and by permitted facility, together with a list of each per19 mitted facility’s location and quantities of combined

20 organochlorine compound discharges into water. The re21 port shall contain recommendations for achieving a zero

22 discharge policy for important categories of organochlorine

23 pollution sources. In order to develop such recommenda24 tions, the Administrator shall convene an advisory panel.

25 The advisory panel shall conduct public hearings and so-
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1 licit public and expert comment. The panel shall consist

2 of 15 members, including at least 1 independent expert

3 in each of the fields of public health, occupational health,

4 technology change, toxics use reduction, and ecology, 2 af5 fected citizens, and technical and policy experts from in6 dustry, labor, public interest groups, and State environ7 mental agencies.

8 ‘‘(d) DEFINITION.—For the purposes of this section,

9 the term ‘zero discharge’ means absolutely no output or

10 release, including nonpoint source output or release, into

11 water. The term ‘zero discharge’ does not mean a less than

12 detectable output or release.’’.

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