I 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5580 

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 

MARCH 11, 2008 

Ms. SCHAKOWSKY (for herself, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. ELLISON, and Ms. HIRONO) 

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 ‘‘Missing Mercury in 

5 Manufacturing Monitoring and Mitigation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) mercury and mercury compounds are highly 

9 toxic to humans, ecosystems, and wildlife; 


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1 (2) 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 as many as 630,000 chil5 dren born annually in the United States are at risk 

6 of neurological problems relating to mercury expo7 sure in utero; 

8 (3) the most significant source of mercury expo9 sure to people in the United States is ingestion of 

10 mercury-contaminated fish; 

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

12 is to minimize global mercury use and releases of 

13 mercury to eventually achieve reduced contamination 

14 levels in the environment, rather than reducing fish 

15 consumption, since uncontaminated fish represents a 

16 critical and healthy source of nutrition for people 

17 worldwide; 

18 (5) mercury pollution is a transboundary pollut19 ant that— 

20 (A) is deposited locally, regionally, and 

21 globally; and 

22 (B) affects bodies of water near industrial 

23 areas, such as the Great Lakes, as well as bod24 ies of water in remote areas, such as the Arctic 

25 Circle; 


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1 (6) of the approximately 30 plants in the 

2 United States that produce chlorine, only 7 use the 

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

4 have not yet committed to phasing out mercury use; 

5 (7) an estimated additional 24,000 to 30,000 

6 tons of mercury are used at mercury cell chlor-alkali 

7 plants worldwide; 

8 (8)(A) less than 10 percent of the total quan9 tity of chlorine and caustic soda produced in the 

10 United States comes from the chlor-alkali plants de11 scribed in paragraph (7) that use the mercury cell 

12 chlor-alkali process; 

13 (B) cost-effective alternatives are available and 

14 in use in the remaining 90 percent of chlorine and 

15 caustic soda production; and 

16 (C) other countries, including Japan, have al17 ready banned the mercury cell chlor-alkali process; 

18 (9) the chlor-alkali industry acknowledges 

19 that— 

20 (A) mercury can contaminate products 

21 manufactured at mercury cell facilities; and 

22 (B) the use of some of those products re23 sults in the direct and indirect release of mer24 cury; 


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1 (10) 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 (11) 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 Congress declares that the United States should de15 velop 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. 


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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.—Effective beginning January 1, 

18 2012, the manufacture of chlorine or caustic soda using 

19 mercury cells is prohibited in the United States. 

20 ‘‘(c) REPORTING.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than April 1, 

22 2009, and annually thereafter through April 1, 

23 2012, the owner or operator of each chlor-alkali fa24 cility shall submit to the Administrator and the 

25 State in which the chlor-alkali facility is located a 

26 report that identifies— 


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1 ‘‘(A) each type and quantity of mercury2 containing hazardous waste and nonhazardous 

3 solid waste generated by the chlor-alkali facility 

4 during the preceding calendar year; 

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

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

7 managed, including the location of each offsite 

8 location to which the waste was transported for 

9 subsequent handling or management; 

10 ‘‘(D) the volume of mercury released, in11 tentionally or unintentionally, into the air or 

12 water by the chlor-alkali facility, including mer13 cury released from emissions or vaporization; 

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

15 have accumulated in pipes and plant equipment 

16 of the chlor-alkali facility, including a descrip17 tion of— 

18 ‘‘(i) the applicable volume for each 

19 type of equipment; and 

20 ‘‘(ii) methods of accumulation; and 

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

22 found in all products produced for sale by the 

23 chlor-alkali facility. 

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

25 duplication, the Administrator may permit the owner 


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

2 to combine and submit the report required under 

3 this subsection with any report required to be sub4 mitted by the owner or operator under subtitle C of 

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

6 seq.). 

7 ‘‘(d) INVENTORY.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each chlor-alkali facil9 ity that ceases operations on or after January 1, 

10 2009, not later than 1 year after the date of ces11 sation of operations, the Administrator, in consulta12 tion with the State in which the facility is located, 

13 shall conduct a comprehensive mercury inventory 

14 covering the life and closure of the chlor-alkali facil15 ity, taking into account— 

16 ‘‘(A) the total quantity of mercury pur17 chased to start and operate the chlor-alkali fa18 cility; 

19 ‘‘(B) the total quantity of mercury remain20 ing in mercury cells and other equipment at the 

21 time of closure of the chlor-alkali facility; 

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

23 hazardous waste, nonhazardous solid waste, and 

24 products generated at the chlor-alkali facility 


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1 during the operational life of the chlor-alkali fa2 cility; and 

3 ‘‘(D) the estimated aggregate mercury re4 leases from the chlor-alkali facility into air and 

5 other environmental media. 

6 ‘‘(2) RECORDS AND INFORMATION.—In car7 rying out paragraph (1), the Administrator shall ob8 tain mercury purchase records and such other infor9 mation from each chlor-alkali facility as are nec10 essary to determine, as accurately as practicable 

11 from available information, the magnitude and na12 ture of mercury releases from the chlor-alkali facility 

13 into air and other environmental media.’’. 

14 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con15 tents of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 

16 2601 note) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

17 to section 6 the following: 

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

Æ 


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