II 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 181 

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

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JANUARY 17, 2019 

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 200,000 

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) based on estimates from the Centers for 

6 Disease Control and Prevention, between 2000 and 

7 2010, between 2 and 6 percent of women in the 

8 United States of childbearing age have exceeded 

9 blood mercury levels determined to be safe by the 

10 Environmental Protection Agency; 

11 (4) exposure to mercury occurs largely by the 

12 consumption of contaminated fish, but fish and 

13 shellfish are important sources of dietary protein 

14 and micronutrients, and a healthy fishing resource is 

15 important to the economy of the United States; 

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

17 mercury input to aquatic ecosystems is atmospheric 

18 emissions, transport, and deposition; 

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

20 but insufficient to track changes in mercury levels in 

21 the environment over time, test model predictions, 

22 and assess the impact of changing mercury emis23 sions and deposition; and 

24 (7) a comprehensive national mercury moni25 toring network to accurately quantify regional and 


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1 national changes in atmospheric mercury deposition, 

2 ecosystem contamination, and bioaccumulation of 

3 mercury in fish and wildlife in response to changes 

4 in mercury emissions would help policy makers, sci5 entists, and the public to better understand the 

6 sources, consequences, and trends of mercury pollu7 tion in the United States. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis11 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ12 mental Protection Agency. 

13 (2) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Advi14 sory Committee’’ means the Mercury Monitoring Ad15 visory Committee established under section 5(a). 

16 (3) ANCILLARY MEASURE.—The term ‘‘ancillary 

17 measure’’ means a measure that is used to under18 stand the impact and interpret results of measure19 ments under the program. 

20 (4) ECOREGION.—The term ‘‘ecoregion’’ means 

21 a large area of land and water that contains a geo22 graphically distinct assemblage of natural commu23 nities, including similar land forms, climate, ecologi24 cal processes, and vegetation. 


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1 (5) MERCURY EXPORT.—The term ‘‘mercury 

2 export’’ means mercury transport from a watershed 

3 to the corresponding body of water, or from 1 body 

4 of water to another body of water (such as from a 

5 lake to a river), generally expressed as— 

6 (A) mass per unit of time; or 

7 (B) mass per unit of watershed or body of 

8 water area per unit of time. 

9 (6) MERCURY FLUX.—The term ‘‘mercury flux’’ 

10 means the rate of transfer of mercury between eco11 system components (such as between water and air 

12 or land and air) or between portions of ecosystem 

13 components, expressed in terms of— 

14 (A) mass per unit of time; or 

15 (B) mass per unit of area of land or water 

16 per unit of time. 

17 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

18 the national mercury monitoring program estab19 lished under section 4(a). 

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

21 sediment’’ means sediment in the uppermost 2 centi22 meters of a lakebed, riverbed, estuary, or coastal 

23 area. 

24 SEC. 4. MONITORING PROGRAM. 

25 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con2 sultation with the Director of the United States Fish 

3 and Wildlife Service, the Director of the United 

4 States Geological Survey, the Director of the Na5 tional Park Service, the Administrator of the Na6 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and 

7 the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, 

8 shall establish a national mercury monitoring pro9 gram. 

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

11 to track— 

12 (A) long-term trends in atmospheric mer13 cury concentrations and deposition; and 

14 (B) mercury levels in watersheds, surface 

15 water, and fish and wildlife in terrestrial, fresh16 water, coastal, and marine ecosystems in re17 sponse to changing mercury emissions over 

18 time. 

19 (3) MONITORING SITES.— 

20 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out para21 graph (1), not later than 1 year after the date 

22 of enactment of this Act and in coordination 

23 with the Advisory Committee, the Adminis24 trator shall select multiple monitoring sites repVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181

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1 resenting multiple ecoregions and associated 

2 coastal waters of the United States. 

3 (B) LOCATIONS.—Locations of monitoring 

4 sites shall include— 

5 (i) units of the National Park System; 

6 (ii) units of the National Wildlife Ref7 uge System; 

8 (iii) units of the National Estuarine 

9 Research Reserve System; and 

10 (iv) sensitive ecological areas in which 

11 substantive changes are expected from re12 ductions in domestic mercury emissions. 

13 (C) COLOCATION.—Monitoring sites shall 

14 be colocated with sites from other long-term en15 vironmental monitoring programs, where prac16 ticable, including sites associated with the Na17 tional Ecological Observatory Network, the 

18 Long Term Ecological Research Network, and 

19 the National Atmospheric Deposition Program. 

20 (D) MONITORING PROTOCOLS.—Not later 

21 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 

22 Act, the Administrator, in coordination with the 

23 Advisory Committee, shall establish and publish 

24 standardized measurement protocols for the 

25 program. 


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1 (4) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.—To the 

2 maximum extent practicable, the program shall be 

3 compatible with similar international efforts, includ4 ing the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Pro5 gramme, the Global Earth Observation System of 

6 Systems, and the monitoring associated with the ef7 fectiveness evaluation of the Minamata Convention 

8 on Mercury, adopted October 10, 2013 (TIAS 17– 

9 816), which entered into force on August 16, 2017. 

10 (5) DATA COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION.— 

11 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

12 of this Act, the Administrator, in coordination with 

13 the Advisory Committee, shall establish— 

14 (A) a centralized database for existing and 

15 newly collected environmental mercury data 

16 that can be freely accessed on the Internet; and 

17 (B) assurance and quality standards for 

18 the database under subparagraph (A). 

19 (b) FUNCTIONS.— 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program, the Ad21 ministrator, in consultation with the appropriate 

22 Federal agencies and the Advisory Committee, shall 

23 at a minimum carry out monitoring described in 

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

25 under subsection (a)(3). 


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1 (2) AIR AND WATERSHEDS.—The program, in 

2 association with the National Atmospheric Deposi3 tion Program, shall monitor long-term changes in 

4 mercury levels and important ancillary measures in 

5 the air, including— 

6 (A) the measurement and recording of wet 

7 mercury deposition; 

8 (B) an estimation of— 

9 (i) dry mercury deposition (such as 

10 litter mercury deposition); 

11 (ii) mercury flux; and 

12 (iii) mercury export; and 

13 (C) the measurement of mercury isotopes 

14 and ancillary measurements to fully understand 

15 the transport, cycling, and transformations of 

16 mercury through ecosystems. 

17 (3) WATER AND SOIL CHEMISTRY.—The pro18 gram, in association with the WaterWatch Program 

19 established by the United States Geological Survey, 

20 shall monitor long-term changes in mercury and 

21 methyl mercury levels and important ancillary meas22 ures in the water and soil or sediments, including— 

23 (A) extraction and analysis of soil and 

24 sediment cores; 


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1 (B) measurement and recording of total 

2 mercury and methyl mercury concentration in 

3 surface sediments; and 

4 (C) measurement and recording of total 

5 mercury and methyl mercury concentration in 

6 surface waters. 

7 (4) AQUATIC AND TERRESTRIAL ORGANISMS.— 

8 The program, in association with the United States 

9 Fish and Wildlife Service and the Inventory and 

10 Monitoring Division of the National Park Service, 

11 shall monitor long-term changes in mercury and 

12 methyl mercury levels and important ancillary meas13 ures in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial orga14 nisms, including— 

15 (A) measurement and recording of total 

16 mercury and methyl mercury concentrations 

17 in— 

18 (i) invertebrates; 

19 (ii) yearling or lower trophic level fish; 

20 and 

21 (iii) commercially, recreationally, or 

22 conservation relevant fish; and 

23 (B) measurement and recording of total 

24 mercury concentrations in— 


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1 (i) selected insect- and fish-eating 

2 birds; and 

3 (ii) selected insect- and fish-eating 

4 mammals. 

5 SEC. 5. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

6 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator, in con7 sultation with the Director of the United States Fish and 

8 Wildlife Service, the Director of the United States Geo9 logical Survey, the Director of the National Park Service, 

10 the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos11 pheric Administration, and the heads of other appropriate 

12 Federal agencies, shall establish a scientific advisory com13 mittee, to be known as the ‘‘Mercury Monitoring Advisory 

14 Committee’’, to advise the Administrator and those Fed15 eral agencies on the establishment, site selection, measure16 ment, recording protocols, and operation of the program. 

17 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Committee shall 

18 consist of scientists who are not employees of the Federal 

19 Government, including— 

20 (1) 3 scientists appointed by the Administrator; 

21 (2) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 

22 United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 

23 (3) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 

24 United States Geological Survey; 


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1 (4) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 

2 National Park Service; and 

3 (5) 2 scientists appointed by the Administrator 

4 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis5 tration. 

6 SEC. 6. REPORTS AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE. 

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

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

9 Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on the 

10 program, including data on relevant temporal trends and 

11 spatial gradients in mercury contamination in the environ12 ment. 

13 (b) ASSESSMENT.—Not less frequently than once 

14 every 4 years, the report required under subsection (a) 

15 shall include an assessment of mercury deposition rates 

16 that need to be achieved in order to prevent adverse 

17 human and ecological effects. 

18 (c) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The Administrator 

19 shall make all data obtained under this Act available to 

20 the public through a dedicated website and on written re21 quest. 

22 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

23 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

24 this Act— 

25 (1) $37,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; 


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1 (2) $29,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; and 

2 (3) $29,000,000 for fiscal year 2022. 

Æ 


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