II 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1428 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 9, 2009 

Mr. WHITEHOUSE (for himself, Mr. CARDIN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, and Mr. FEINGOLD) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

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— 

8 (1) mercury and mercury compounds are highly 

9 toxic to humans, ecosystems, and wildlife; 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
2 

•S 1428 IS

1 (2)(A) as many as 10 percent of women in the 

2 United States of childbearing age have mercury in 

3 their bloodstreams at a level that could pose risks to 

4 their unborn babies; and 

5 (B) hundreds of thousands of children born an6 nually in the United States are at risk of neuro7 logical problems relating to mercury exposure in 

8 utero; 

9 (3) the most significant source of mercury expo10 sure to people in the United States is ingestion of 

11 mercury-contaminated fish; 

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

13 is to minimize global mercury use and releases of 

14 mercury to eventually achieve reduced contamination 

15 levels in the environment, rather than reducing fish 

16 consumption, because uncontaminated fish represent 

17 a critical and healthy source of nutrition for people 

18 worldwide; 

19 (5) mercury pollution is a transboundary pollut20 ant that— 

21 (A) is deposited locally, regionally, and 

22 globally; and 

23 (B) affects bodies of water— 

24 (i) near industrial areas, such as the 

25 Great Lakes; and 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
3 

•S 1428 IS

1 (ii) in remote areas, such as the Arc2 tic Circle; 

3 (6) of the approximately 30 facilities in the 

4 United States that produce chlorine— 

5 (A) only 5 use the obsolete ‘‘mercury cell’’ 

6 chlor-alkali process; and 

7 (B) 4 have not yet committed to phasing 

8 out mercury use; 

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

10 of chlorine and caustic soda produced in the United 

11 States comes from the chlor-alkali plants described 

12 in paragraph (6) that use the mercury cell chlor-al13 kali process; 

14 (B) cost-effective alternatives are available and 

15 in use in the remaining 95 percent of chlorine and 

16 caustic soda production; and 

17 (C) other countries, including Japan, have al18 ready banned the mercury cell chlor-alkali process; 

19 (8) the chlor-alkali industry acknowledges 

20 that— 

21 (A) mercury can contaminate products 

22 manufactured at mercury cell facilities; and 

23 (B) the use of some of those products re24 sults in the direct and indirect release of mer25 cury; 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
4 

•S 1428 IS

1 (9) despite those quantities of mercury known 

2 to have been used or to be in use, neither the chlor3 alkali industry nor the Environmental Protection 

4 Agency is able— 

5 (A) to adequately account for the disposi6 tion of the mercury used at those facilities; or 

7 (B) to accurately estimate current mercury 

8 emissions; and 

9 (10) it is critically important that the United 

10 States work aggressively toward the minimization of 

11 supply, demand, and releases of mercury, both do12 mestically and internationally. 

13 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

14 It is the policy of the United States that the United 

15 States should develop policies and programs that will— 

16 (1) reduce mercury use and emissions within 

17 the United States; 

18 (2) reduce mercury releases from the reservoir 

19 of mercury currently in use or circulation within the 

20 United States; and 

21 (3) reduce exposures to mercury, particularly 

22 exposures of women of childbearing age and young 

23 children. 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
5 

•S 1428 IS

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 that 

19 is 2 years after the date of enactment of this sec20 tion, the manufacture of chlorine or caustic soda 

21 using a mercury cell is prohibited in the United 

22 States. 

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

24 enactment of this section, the export of any mercury, 

25 mercury cell, mercury compound, or mixture conVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:08 Jul 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1428.IS S1428

tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
6 

•S 1428 IS

1 taining mercury by the owner or operator of a chlor2 alkali facility is prohibited. 

3 ‘‘(c) REPORTING.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years 

5 after the date of enactment of this section, the 

6 owner or operator of each chlor-alkali facility shall 

7 submit to the Administrator and the State in which 

8 the chlor-alkali facility is located a report that iden9 tifies— 

10 ‘‘(A) each type and quantity of mercury11 containing hazardous waste and nonhazardous 

12 solid waste generated by the chlor-alkali facility 

13 during the preceding calendar year; 

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

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

16 managed, including the location of each offsite 

17 location to which the waste was transported for 

18 subsequent handling or management; 

19 ‘‘(D) the volume of mercury released, in20 tentionally or unintentionally, into the air or 

21 water by the chlor-alkali facility, including mer22 cury released from emissions or vaporization; 

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

24 have accumulated in pipes and plant equipment 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
7 

•S 1428 IS

1 of the chlor-alkali facility, including a descrip2 tion of— 

3 ‘‘(i) the applicable volume for each 

4 type of equipment; and 

5 ‘‘(ii) methods of accumulation; and 

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

7 found in all products produced for sale by the 

8 chlor-alkali facility. 

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

10 duplication, the Administrator may permit the owner 

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

12 to combine and submit the report required under 

13 this subsection with any report required to be sub14 mitted by the owner or operator under subtitle C of 

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

16 seq.). 

17 ‘‘(d) INVENTORY.— 

18 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each chlor-alkali facil19 ity that ceases operations on or after January 1, 

20 2009, not later than 1 year after the date of ces21 sation of operations, the Administrator, in consulta22 tion with the State in which the facility is located, 

23 shall conduct a comprehensive mercury inventory 

24 covering the life and closure of the chlor-alkali facil25 ity, taking into account— 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
8 

•S 1428 IS

1 ‘‘(A) the total quantity of mercury pur2 chased to start and operate the chlor-alkali fa3 cility; 

4 ‘‘(B) the total quantity of mercury remain5 ing in mercury cells and other equipment at the 

6 time of closure of the chlor-alkali facility; 

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

8 hazardous waste, nonhazardous solid waste, and 

9 products generated at the chlor-alkali facility 

10 during the operational life of the chlor-alkali fa11 cility; and 

12 ‘‘(D) the estimated aggregate mercury re13 leases from the chlor-alkali facility into air and 

14 other environmental media. 

15 ‘‘(2) RECORDS AND INFORMATION.—In car16 rying out paragraph (1), the Administrator shall ob17 tain mercury purchase records and such other infor18 mation from each chlor-alkali facility as the Admin19 istrator determines to be necessary to determine, as 

20 accurately as practicable from available information, 

21 the magnitude and nature of mercury releases from 

22 the chlor-alkali facility into air and other environ23 mental media. 

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

25 use the authorities of section 11 and any other apVerDate Nov 24 2008 01:08 Jul 10, 2009 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1428.IS S1428

tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS
9 

•S 1428 IS

1 propriate authorities of this Act to carry out this 

2 subsection.’’. 

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

4 (1) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of con5 tents of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 

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

7 item relating to section 6 the following: 

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

8 (2) ENFORCEMENT.—Section 15 of the Toxic 

9 Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2614) is amend10 ed by striking ‘‘or 6’’ each place it appears and in11 serting ‘‘, 6, or 6A’’. 

Æ 


tjames on DSKG8SOYB1PROD with BILLS