I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2190 

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 

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. 

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 ‘‘Mercury Pollution Re5 duction Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) mercury and mercury compounds are highly 

2 toxic to humans, ecosystems, and wildlife; 

3 (2) as many as 10 percent of women in the 

4 United States of childbearing age have mercury in 

5 their bloodstreams at a level that could pose risks to 

6 their unborn babies, and hundreds of thousands of 

7 children born annually in the United States are at 

8 risk of neurological problems relating to mercury ex9 posure in utero; 

10 (3) the most significant source of mercury expo11 sure to people in the United States is ingestion of 

12 mercury-contaminated fish; 

13 (4) the long-term solution to mercury pollution 

14 is to minimize global mercury use and releases of 

15 mercury to eventually achieve reduced contamination 

16 levels in the environment, rather than reducing fish 

17 consumption, since uncontaminated fish represents a 

18 critical and healthy source of nutrition for people 

19 worldwide; 

20 (5) mercury pollution is a transboundary pollut21 ant that— 

22 (A) is deposited locally, regionally, and 

23 globally; and 

24 (B) affects bodies of water near industrial 

25 areas, such as the Great Lakes, as well as bodVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:42 May 02, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2190.IH H2190

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1 ies of water in remote areas, such as the Arctic 

2 Circle; 

3 (6) of the approximately 30 plants in the 

4 United States that produce chlorine, only 5 use the 

5 obsolete ‘‘mercury cell’’ chlor-alkali process, and 4 

6 have not yet committed to phasing out mercury use; 

7 (7)(A) less than 5 percent of the total quantity 

8 of chlorine and caustic soda produced in the United 

9 States comes from the chlor-alkali plants described 

10 in paragraph (6) that use the mercury cell chlor-al11 kali process; 

12 (B) cost-effective alternatives are available and 

13 in use in the remaining 95 percent of chlorine and 

14 caustic soda production; and 

15 (C) other countries, including Japan, have al16 ready banned the mercury cell chlor-alkali process; 

17 (8) the chlor-alkali industry acknowledges 

18 that— 

19 (A) mercury can contaminate products 

20 manufactured at mercury cell facilities; and 

21 (B) the use of some of those products re22 sults in the direct and indirect release of mer23 cury; 

24 (9) despite those quantities of mercury known 

25 to have been used or to be in use, neither the chlorVerDate Nov 24 2008 02:42 May 02, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2190.IH H2190

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1 alkali industry nor the Environmental Protection 

2 Agency is able— 

3 (A) to adequately account for the disposi4 tion of the mercury used at those facilities; or 

5 (B) to accurately estimate current mercury 

6 emissions; and 

7 (10) it is critically important that the United 

8 States work aggressively toward the minimization of 

9 supply, demand, and releases of mercury, both do10 mestically and internationally. 

11 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

12 Congress declares that the United States should de13 velop policies and programs that will— 

14 (1) reduce mercury use and emissions within 

15 the United States; 

16 (2) reduce mercury releases from the reservoir 

17 of mercury currently in use or circulation within the 

18 United States; and 

19 (3) reduce exposures to mercury, particularly 

20 exposures of women of childbearing age and young 

21 children. 


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1 SEC. 4. USE OF MERCURY IN CHLORINE AND CAUSTIC 

2 SODA MANUFACTURING. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Toxic Substances 

4 Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is amended by in5 serting after section 6 the following: 

6 ‘‘SEC. 6A. USE OF MERCURY IN CHLORINE AND CAUSTIC 

7 SODA MANUFACTURING. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) CHLOR-ALKALI FACILITY.—The term 

10 ‘chlor-alkali facility’ means a facility used for the 

11 manufacture of chlorine or caustic soda using a mer12 cury cell process. 

13 ‘‘(2) HAZARDOUS WASTE; SOLID WASTE.—The 

14 terms ‘hazardous waste’ and ‘solid waste’ have the 

15 meanings given those terms in section 1004 of the 

16 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903). 

17 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION; USE PRIOR TO PROHIBITION.— 

18 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—Effective on the date 24 

19 months after the enactment of this section, the man20 ufacture of chlorine or caustic soda using mercury 

21 cells is prohibited in the United States. 

22 ‘‘(2) EXPORT BAN.—Effective on the date of 

23 the enactment of this section, the export of any mer24 cury, mercury cells, mercury compounds, and mix25 tures containing mercury by the owner or operator 

26 of a chlor-alkali facility is prohibited. 


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1 ‘‘(c) REPORTING.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 24 months 

3 after the enactment of this section, the owner or op4 erator of each chlor-alkali facility shall submit to the 

5 Administrator and the State in which the chlor-al6 kali facility is located a report that identifies— 

7 ‘‘(A) each type and quantity of mercury8 containing hazardous waste and nonhazardous 

9 solid waste generated by the chlor-alkali facility 

10 during the preceding calendar year; 

11 ‘‘(B) the mercury content of the wastes; 

12 ‘‘(C) the manner in which each waste was 

13 managed, including the location of each offsite 

14 location to which the waste was transported for 

15 subsequent handling or management; 

16 ‘‘(D) the volume of mercury released, in17 tentionally or unintentionally, into the air or 

18 water by the chlor-alkali facility, including mer19 cury released from emissions or vaporization; 

20 ‘‘(E) the volume of mercury estimated to 

21 have accumulated in pipes and plant equipment 

22 of the chlor-alkali facility, including a descrip23 tion of— 

24 ‘‘(i) the applicable volume for each 

25 type of equipment; and 


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1 ‘‘(ii) methods of accumulation; and 

2 ‘‘(F) the quantity and forms of mercury 

3 found in all products produced for sale by the 

4 chlor-alkali facility. 

5 ‘‘(2) AVOIDANCE OF DUPLICATION.—To avoid 

6 duplication, the Administrator may permit the owner 

7 or operator of a facility described in paragraph (1) 

8 to combine and submit the report required under 

9 this subsection with any report required to be sub10 mitted by the owner or operator under subtitle C of 

11 the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et 

12 seq.). 

13 ‘‘(d) INVENTORY.— 

14 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each chlor-alkali facil15 ity that ceases operations on or after January 1, 

16 2009, not later than 1 year after the date of ces17 sation of operations, the Administrator, in consulta18 tion with the State in which the facility is located, 

19 shall conduct a comprehensive mercury inventory 

20 covering the life and closure of the chlor-alkali facil21 ity, taking into account— 

22 ‘‘(A) the total quantity of mercury pur23 chased to start and operate the chlor-alkali fa24 cility; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the total quantity of mercury remain2 ing in mercury cells and other equipment at the 

3 time of closure of the chlor-alkali facility; 

4 ‘‘(C) the estimated quantity of mercury in 

5 hazardous waste, nonhazardous solid waste, and 

6 products generated at the chlor-alkali facility 

7 during the operational life of the chlor-alkali fa8 cility; and 

9 ‘‘(D) the estimated aggregate mercury re10 leases from the chlor-alkali facility into air and 

11 other environmental media. 

12 ‘‘(2) RECORDS AND INFORMATION.—In car13 rying out paragraph (1), the Administrator is au14 thorized and directed to obtain mercury purchase 

15 records and such other information from each chlor16 alkali facility as are necessary to determine, as accu17 rately as practicable from available information, the 

18 magnitude and nature of mercury releases from the 

19 chlor-alkali facility into air and other environmental 

20 media. 

21 ‘‘(3) AUTHORITIES.—This Administrator shall 

22 use the authorities of section 11 and any other ap23 propriate authorities of this Act to carry out this 

24 subsection.’’. 

25 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 


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1 (1) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of con2 tents of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 

3 U.S.C. 2601 note) is amended by inserting after the 

4 item relating to section 6 the following: 

‘‘Sec. 6A. Use of mercury in chlorine and caustic soda manufacturing.’’. 

5 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 15 of such Act is 

6 amended by striking out ‘‘or 6’’ and inserting ‘‘, 6, 

7 or 6A’’ in each place it appears. 

Æ 


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