II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1528 

To establish a national mercury monitoring program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013 

Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. CARPER) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and 

Public Works 

A BILL 

To establish a national mercury monitoring program, 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 ‘‘Comprehensive Na5 tional Mercury Monitoring Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) mercury is a potent neurotoxin of signifi9 cant ecological and public health concern; 


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1 (2) it is estimated that approximately 410,000 

2 children born each year in the United States are ex3 posed to levels of mercury in the womb that are high 

4 enough to impair neurological development; 

5 (3) the Centers for Disease Control and Preven6 tion have found that 6 percent of women in the 

7 United States of childbearing age have blood mer8 cury levels in excess of values determined to be safe 

9 by the Environmental Protection Agency; 

10 (4) exposure to mercury occurs largely by the 

11 consumption of contaminated fish, but fish and 

12 shellfish are important sources of dietary protein, 

13 and a healthy fishing resource is important to the 

14 economy of the United States; 

15 (5) in many locations, the primary route for 

16 mercury input to aquatic ecosystems is atmospheric 

17 emissions, transport, and deposition; 

18 (6) existing broad-scale data sets are important 

19 but insufficient to track changes in mercury levels in 

20 the environment over time, test model predictions, 

21 and assess the impact of changing mercury emis22 sions and deposition; and 

23 (7) a comprehensive national mercury moni24 toring network to accurately quantify regional and 

25 national changes in atmospheric deposition, ecoVerDate Mar 15 2010 02:19 Sep 21, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1528.IS S1528

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1 system contamination, and bioaccumulation of mer2 cury in fish and wildlife in response to changes in 

3 mercury emissions would help policy makers, sci4 entists, and the public to better understand the 

5 sources, consequences, and trends in United States 

6 mercury pollution. 

7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

8 In this Act: 

9 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis10 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ11 mental Protection Agency. 

12 (2) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

13 the national mercury monitoring program estab14 lished under section 4. 

15 (3) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Advi16 sory Committee’’ means the Mercury Monitoring Ad17 visory Committee established under section 5. 

18 (4) ANCILLARY MEASURE.—The term ‘‘ancillary 

19 measure’’ means a measure that is used to under20 stand the impact and interpret results of measure21 ments under the program. 

22 (5) ECOREGION.—The term ‘‘ecoregion’’ means 

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1 nities, including similar land forms, climate, ecologi2 cal processes, and vegetation. 

3 (6) MERCURY EXPORT.—The term ‘‘mercury 

4 export’’ means mercury flux from a watershed to the 

5 corresponding water body, or from one water body 

6 to another water body (such as a lake to a river), 

7 generally expressed as mass per unit of time. 

8 (7) MERCURY FLUX.—The term ‘‘mercury flux’’ 

9 means the rate of transfer of mercury between eco10 system components (such as between water and air), 

11 or between portions of ecosystem components, ex12 pressed in terms of mass per unit of time or mass 

13 per unit of area per time. 

14 (8) SURFACE SEDIMENT.—The term ‘‘surface 

15 sediment’’ means sediment in the uppermost 2 centi16 meters of a lakebed or riverbed. 

17 SEC. 4. MONITORING PROGRAM. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 

19 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con20 sultation with the Director of the United States Fish 

21 and Wildlife Service, the Director of the United 

22 States Geological Survey, the Director of the Na23 tional Park Service, the Administrator of the Na24 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and 

25 the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, 


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1 shall establish a national mercury monitoring pro2 gram. 

3 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program is 

4 to track— 

5 (A) long-term trends in atmospheric mer6 cury concentrations and deposition; and 

7 (B) mercury levels in watersheds, surface 

8 water, and fish and wildlife in terrestrial, fresh9 water, coastal, and marine ecosystems in re10 sponse to changing mercury emissions over 

11 time. 

12 (3) MONITORING SITES.— 

13 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out para14 graph (1), not later than 1 year after the date 

15 of enactment of this Act and in coordination 

16 with the Advisory Committee, the Adminis17 trator shall select multiple monitoring sites rep18 resenting multiple ecoregions and associated 

19 coastal waters of the United States. 

20 (B) LOCATIONS.—Locations of monitoring 

21 sites shall include National Parks, National 

22 Wildlife Refuges, National Estuarine Research 

23 Reserve units, and sensitive ecological areas in 

24 which substantive changes are expected from 

25 reductions in domestic mercury emissions. 


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1 (C) COLOCATION.—Monitoring sites shall 

2 be colocated with sites from other long-term en3 vironmental monitoring programs, where prac4 ticable, including sites associated with the Na5 tional Ecological Observatory Network, the 

6 Long-Term Ecological Research Network, and 

7 the National Atmospheric Deposition Program. 

8 (D) MONITORING PROTOCOLS.—Not later 

9 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

10 Act, the Administrator, in coordination with the 

11 Advisory Committee, shall establish and publish 

12 standardized measurement protocols for the 

13 program under this Act. 

14 (4) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.—To the 

15 maximum extent practicable, the program shall be 

16 compatible with similar international efforts, includ17 ing the Global Mercury Observation System and the 

18 Global Earth Observation System of Systems. 

19 (5) DATA COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION.— 

20 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

21 of this Act, the Administrator, in coordination with 

22 the Advisory Committee, shall establish a centralized 

23 database for existing and newly collected environ24 mental mercury data that can be freely accessed on 


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1 the Internet once data assurance and quality stand2 ards established by the Administrator are met. 

3 (b) FUNCTIONS.— 

4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program, the Ad5 ministrator, in consultation with the appropriate 

6 Federal agencies and the Advisory Committee, shall 

7 at a minimum carry out monitoring described in 

8 paragraphs (2) through (4) at the locations selected 

9 under subsection (a)(3). 

10 (2) AIR AND WATERSHEDS.—The program shall 

11 monitor long-term changes in mercury levels and im12 portant ancillary measures in the air, including— 

13 (A) the measurement and recording of wet 

14 and estimation of dry mercury deposition, mer15 cury flux, and mercury export; 

16 (B) the measurement and recording of the 

17 level of mercury reemitted from aquatic and 

18 terrestrial environments into the atmosphere; 

19 and 

20 (C) the measurement of sulfur species and 

21 ancillary measurements to fully understand the 

22 cycling of mercury through the ecosystem. 

23 (3) WATER AND SOIL CHEMISTRY.—The pro24 gram shall monitor long-term changes in mercury 

25 and methyl mercury levels and important ancillary 


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1 measures in the water and soil or sediments, includ2 ing— 

3 (A) extraction and analysis of soil and 

4 sediment cores; 

5 (B) measurement and recording of total 

6 mercury and methyl mercury concentration, and 

7 percent methyl mercury in surface sediments; 

8 (C) measurement and recording of total 

9 mercury and methyl mercury concentration in 

10 surface water; and 

11 (D) measurement and recording of total 

12 mercury and methyl mercury concentrations 

13 throughout the water column and sediments. 

14 (4) AQUATIC AND TERRESTRIAL ORGANISMS.— 

15 The program shall monitor long-term changes in 

16 mercury and methyl mercury levels and important 

17 ancillary measures in marine, freshwater, and terres18 trial organisms, including— 

19 (A) measurement and recording of total 

20 mercury and methyl mercury concentrations 

21 in— 

22 (i) invertebrates; 

23 (ii) yearling or lower trophic level fish; 

24 and 


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1 (iii) commercially, recreationally, or 

2 conservation relevant fish; and 

3 (B) measurement and recording of total 

4 mercury concentrations in— 

5 (i) selected insect- and fish-eating 

6 birds; and 

7 (ii) measurement and recording of 

8 total mercury concentrations in selected 

9 insect- and fish-eating mammals. 

10 SEC. 5. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator, in con12 sultation with the Director of the United States Fish and 

13 Wildlife Service, the Director of the United States Geo14 logical Survey, the Director of the National Park Service, 

15 the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos16 pheric Administration, and the heads of other appropriate 

17 Federal agencies, shall establish a scientific advisory com18 mittee, to be known as the ‘‘Mercury Monitoring Advisory 

19 Committee’’, to advise the Administrator and those Fed20 eral agencies on the establishment, site selection, measure21 ment, recording protocols, and operation of the national 

22 mercury monitoring program. 

23 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Committee shall 

24 consist of scientists who are not employees of the Federal 

25 Government, including— 


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1 (1) 3 scientists appointed by the Administrator; 

2 (2) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 

3 United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 

4 (3) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 

5 United States Geological Survey; 

6 (4) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 

7 National Park Service; and 

8 (5) 2 scientists appointed by the Administrator 

9 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis10 tration. 

11 SEC. 6. REPORTS AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE. 

12 (a) REPORTS.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

13 of enactment of this Act and every 2 years thereafter, the 

14 Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on the 

15 program, including trend data. 

16 (b) ASSESSMENT.—At least once every 4 years, the 

17 report required under subsection (a) shall include an as18 sessment of mercury deposition rates that need to be 

19 achieved in order to prevent adverse human and ecological 

20 effects. 

21 (c) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The Administrator 

22 shall make all data obtained under this Act available to 

23 the public through a dedicated website and on written re24 quest. 


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1 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

2 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

3 this Act— 

4 (1) $37,000,000 for fiscal year 2014; 

5 (2) $29,000,000 for fiscal year 2015; and 

6 (3) $29,000,000 for fiscal year 2016. 

Æ 


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