I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2898

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

AUGUST 5, 1993

Mr. RICHARDSON (for himself, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. STOKES, Ms. MCKINNEY,

Ms. BYRNE, Mr. ROMERO-BARCELO ́, Mr. BROWN of California, Mr.

EVANS, Ms. FURSE, Mr. HAMBURG, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Ms. NORTON, and

Mr. BERMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the

Committee on Public Works and Transportation

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 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. ZERO DISCHARGE OF TOXIC PERSISTENT AND

7 BIOACCUMULATIVE SUBSTANCES.

8 (a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds that—
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1 (1) substances that persist and/or

2 bioaccumulate in the environment, build to higher

3 and higher concentration over time, reaching their

4 greatest levels in the tissues of species high on the

5 food chain, including humans;

6 (2) toxic substances that persist and/or

7 bioaccumulate in the environment are biologically ac8 tive in infinitesimal quantities, causing reproductive

9 failure, birth defects, developmental impairment,

10 hormonal disruption, behavioral disorders, immune

11 suppression, and cancer at low doses, and mixtures

12 of these substances may cause these effects at even

13 lower doses;

14 (3) regulatory approaches that permit even lim15 ited production and discharge of toxic substances

16 that persist and/or bioaccumulate result in the accu17 mulation of these substances in the environment and

18 food chain over time and subsequent damage to the

19 health of humans and other species;

20 (4) the most favored method of preventing the

21 continued contamination of the environment from

22 persistent or bioaccumulative toxic substances is to

23 phaseout their production and/or use over time and

24 replace these substances or the processes that

25 produce them, or both, with safer alternatives;
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1 (5) among the persistent and/or

2 bioaccumulative toxic substances of greatest concern

3 are organochlorines discharged in the production of

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

5 any other chlorinated oxidizing agents in the pulp

6 and paper manufacturing process;

7 (6) the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

8 between the United States and Canada concludes

9 that ‘‘the discharge of toxic substances in toxic

10 amounts be prohibited and the discharge of any or

11 all persistent toxic substances be virtually elimi12 nated’’; and

13 (7) in the Sixth Biennial Report on Great

14 Lakes Water Quality, the International Joint Com15 mission on Great Lakes Water Quality concluded

16 that ‘‘the concepts of virtual elimination and zero

17 discharge are consistent and a clear statement or di18 rection to take to achieve the Agreement’s purpose.

19 The overall strategy or aim regarding persistent

20 toxic substances is virtual elimination, and the tactic

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

22 zero input or discharge of those substances created

23 as a result of human activity.

24 (b) ZERO DISCHARGE OF ORGANOCHLORINE COM25 POUNDS, BYPRODUCTS, OR METABOLITES.—Title III of
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1 the Federal Water Pollution Control Act is amended by

2 redesignating section 519 as section 520 and by inserting

3 the following after section 518:

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

5 BYPRODUCTS, OR METABOLITES.

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

7 the enactment of this section, each pulp and paper manu8 facturing facility shall achieve zero discharge into water

9 of organochlorine compounds, byproducts, or metabolites

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

11 chlorinated oxidizing agent in the pulp and paper manu12 facturing process.

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

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

15 pulp mills which use chlorine or any other chlorinated oxi16 dizing agent shall require compliance with the zero dis17 charge requirement set forth in paragraph (1).

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

19 year after the enactment of this section, the Administrator

20 shall evaluate alternatives to the use of organochlorines

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

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

23 paper industry from organochlorine to chlorine-free tech24 nology as a model for pollution prevention. Within 18

25 months after the enactment of this section, the Agency
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1 shall begin providing technical information and support to

2 assist permit applicants in the use of alternatives to

3 organochlorine compounds in the production of pulp and

4 paper.

5 ‘‘(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON ORGANOCHLORINE

6 ZERO DISCHARGE CANDIDATES.—Within 18 months after

7 the enactment of this section, the Administrator shall

8 complete a report to Congress on nonpoint sources and

9 industrial discharges of organochlorine compounds and

10 their byproducts and metabolites into water. The report

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

12 sources and industrial organochlorine discharges into

13 water and their byproducts and metabolites. The report

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

15 organochlorine compound discharged into water nationally

16 and by permitted facility, together with a list of each per17 mitted facility’s location and quantities of combined

18 organochlorine compound discharges into water. The re19 port shall contain recommendations for achieving a zero

20 discharge policy for important categories of organochlorine

21 pollution sources. In order to develop such recommenda22 tions, the Administrator shall convene an advisory panel.

23 The advisory panel shall conduct public hearings and so24 licit public and expert comment. The panel shall consist

25 of 15 members, including at least 1 independent expert
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1 in each of the fields of public health, occupational health,

2 technology change, toxics use reduction, and ecology, 2 af3 fected citizens, and technical and policy experts from in4 dustry, labor, public interest groups, and State environ5 mental agencies.

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

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

8 release, including nonpoint source output or release, into

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

10 detectable output or release.’’.

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