I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1534 

To prohibit the sale, distribution, or transfer of mercury, to prohibit the 

export of mercury, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 15, 2007 

Mr. ALLEN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To prohibit the sale, distribution, or transfer of mercury, 

to prohibit the export of mercury, 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 Export Ban 

5 Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) mercury is highly toxic to humans, eco9 systems, 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 the blood at a level that could put a baby at risk; 

4 (3) as many as 630,000 children born annually 

5 in the United States are at risk of neurological prob6 lems related to mercury; 

7 (4) the most significant source of mercury expo8 sure to people in the United States is ingestion of 

9 mercury-contaminated fish; 

10 (5) the Environmental Protection Agency re11 ports that, as of 2004— 

12 (A) 44 States have fish advisories covering 

13 over 13,000,000 lake acres and over 750,000 

14 river miles; 

15 (B) in 21 States the freshwater advisories 

16 are statewide; and 

17 (C) in 12 States the coastal advisories are 

18 statewide; 

19 (6) the long-term solution to mercury pollution 

20 is to minimize global mercury use and releases to 

21 eventually achieve reduced contamination levels in 

22 the environment, rather than reducing fish consump23 tion since uncontaminated fish represents a critical 

24 and healthy source of nutrition worldwide; 


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1 (7) mercury pollution is a transboundary pollut2 ant, depositing locally, regionally, and globally, and 

3 affecting water bodies near industrial sources (in4 cluding the Great Lakes) and remote areas (includ5 ing the Arctic Circle); 

6 (8) the free trade of mercury on the world mar7 ket, at relatively low prices and in ready supply, en8 courages the continued use of mercury outside of the 

9 United States, often involving highly dispersive ac10 tivities such as artisinal gold mining; 

11 (9) the intentional use of mercury is declining 

12 in the United States as a consequence of process 

13 changes to manufactured products (including bat14 teries, paints, switches, and measuring devices), but 

15 those uses remain substantial in the developing 

16 world where releases from the products are ex17 tremely likely due to the limited pollution control 

18 and waste management infrastructures in those 

19 countries; 

20 (10) the member countries of the European 

21 Union collectively are the largest source of mercury 

22 exports globally; 

23 (11) the European Commission has proposed to 

24 the European Parliament and to the Council of the 


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1 European Union a regulation to ban exports of mer2 cury from the European Union by 2011; 

3 (12) the United States is a net exporter of mer4 cury and, according to the United States Geological 

5 Survey, exported 506 metric tons of mercury more 

6 than the United States imported during the period 

7 of 2000 through 2004; and 

8 (13) banning exports of mercury from the 

9 United States will have a notable affect on the mar10 ket availability of mercury and switching to afford11 able mercury alternatives in the developing world. 

12 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON SALE, DISTRIBUTION, OR TRANS13 FER OF MERCURY. 

14 Section 6 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 

15 U.S.C. 2605) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

17 ‘‘(f) MERCURY.— 

18 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION ON SALE, DISTRIBUTION, OR

19 TRANSFER OF MERCURY BY FEDERAL AGENCIES.— 

20 Except as provided in paragraph (2), effective begin21 ning on the date of enactment of this subsection, no 

22 Federal agency shall convey, sell, or distribute to 

23 any other Federal agency, any State or local govern24 ment agency, or any private individual or entity any 


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1 elemental mercury under the control or jurisdiction 

2 of the Federal agency. 

3 ‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Paragraph (1) shall not 

4 apply to a transfer between Federal agencies of ele5 mental mercury for the sole purpose of facilitating 

6 storage of mercury to carry out this Act.’’. 

7 SEC. 4. PROHIBITION ON EXPORT OF MERCURY. 

8 Section 12 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 

9 U.S.C. 2611) is amended— 

10 (1) in subsection (a) by striking ‘‘subsection 

11 (b)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (b) and (c)’’; and 

12 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

13 ‘‘(c) PROHIBITION ON EXPORT OF MERCURY.— 

14 ‘‘(1) PROHIBITION.—Effective January 1, 

15 2010, the export of elemental mercury from the 

16 United States is prohibited. 

17 ‘‘(2) INAPPLICABILITY OF SUBSECTION (a).— 

18 Subsection (a) shall not apply to this subsection. 

19 ‘‘(3) REPORT TO CONGRESS ON MERCURY COM20 POUNDS.— 

21 ‘‘(A) REPORT.—Not later than one year 

22 after the date of enactment of the Mercury Ex23 port Ban Act of 2007, the Administrator shall 

24 publish and submit to Congress a report on 

25 mercuric chloride, mercurous chloride or calVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:09 Mar 16, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1534.IH H1534

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1 omel, mercuric oxide, and other mercury com2 pounds, if any, that may currently be used in 

3 significant quantities in products or processes. 

4 Such report shall include an analysis of— 

5 ‘‘(i) the sources and amounts of each 

6 of the mercury compounds produced annu7 ally in the United States or imported into 

8 the United States; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the purposes for which each of 

10 these compounds are used domestically, the 

11 amount of these compounds currently con12 sumed annually for each purpose, and the 

13 estimated amounts to be consumed for 

14 each purpose in 2010 and beyond; 

15 ‘‘(iii) the sources and amounts of each 

16 mercury compound exported from the 

17 United States annually in each of the last 

18 three years; 

19 ‘‘(iv) the potential for these com20 pounds to be processed into elemental mer21 cury after export from the United States; 

22 and 

23 ‘‘(v) other information that Congress 

24 should consider in determining whether to 


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1 extend the export prohibition to include 

2 one or more of these mercury compounds. 

3 ‘‘(B) PROCEDURE.—For the purpose of 

4 preparing the report under this paragraph, the 

5 Administrator may utilize the information gath6 ering authorities of this title, including sections 

7 10 and 11, except that subsection (b)(2) of sec8 tion 11 shall not apply to activities under this 

9 subparagraph.’’. 

10 SEC. 5. EXCESS MERCURY STORAGE ADVISORY COM11 MITTEE. 

12 (a) AMENDMENT.—Title I of the Toxic Substances 

13 Control Act is amended by adding at the end the following 

14 new section: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 32. EXCESS MERCURY STORAGE ADVISORY COM16 MITTEE. 

17 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established an advi18 sory committee, to be known as the ‘Excess Mercury Stor19 age Advisory Committee’ (referred to in this section as 

20 the ‘Committee’). 

21 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Committee shall be 

23 composed of 9 members, of whom— 


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1 ‘‘(A) 2 members shall be jointly appointed 

2 by the Speaker of the House of Representatives 

3 and the Majority Leader of the Senate— 

4 ‘‘(i) 1 of whom shall be designated to 

5 serve as Chairperson of the Committee; 

6 and 

7 ‘‘(ii) 1 of whom shall be designated to 

8 serve as Vice-Chairperson of the Com9 mittee; 

10 ‘‘(B) 1 member shall be the Administrator; 

11 ‘‘(C) 1 member shall be the Secretary of 

12 Defense; 

13 ‘‘(D) 1 member shall be a representative of 

14 State environmental agencies; 

15 ‘‘(E) 1 member shall be a representative of 

16 State attorneys general; 

17 ‘‘(F) 1 member shall be a representative of 

18 the chlorine industry; 

19 ‘‘(G) 1 member shall be a representative of 

20 the mercury waste treatment industry; and 

21 ‘‘(H) 1 member shall be a representative of 

22 a nonprofit environmental organization. 

23 ‘‘(2) APPOINTMENTS.—Not later than 45 days 

24 after the date of enactment of this section, the Ad25 ministrator, in consultation with the appropriate 


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1 congressional committees, shall appoint the members 

2 of the Committee described in subparagraphs (D) 

3 through (H) of paragraph (1). 

4 ‘‘(c) INITIAL MEETING.—Not later than 30 days 

5 after the date on which all members of the Committee 

6 have been appointed, the Committee shall hold the initial 

7 meeting of the Committee. 

8 ‘‘(d) MEETINGS.—The Committee shall meet at the 

9 call of the Chairperson. 

10 ‘‘(e) QUORUM.—A majority of the members of the 

11 Committee shall constitute a quorum. 

12 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

13 of enactment of this section, the Committee shall submit 

14 to Congress a report describing the findings and rec15 ommendations of the Committee, if any, relating to— 

16 ‘‘(1) the environmental, health, and safety re17 quirements necessary to prevent— 

18 ‘‘(A) the release of elemental mercury into 

19 the environment; and 

20 ‘‘(B) worker exposure from the storage of 

21 elemental mercury; 

22 ‘‘(2) the estimated annual cost of storing ele23 mental mercury on a per-pound or per-ton basis; 

24 ‘‘(3) for the 40-year period beginning on the 

25 date of submission of the report, the optimal size, 


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1 number, and other characteristics of Federal facili2 ties required to store elemental mercury under cur3 rent and anticipated jurisdictions of each Federal 

4 agency; 

5 ‘‘(4) the estimated quantity of— 

6 ‘‘(A) elemental mercury that will result 

7 from the decommissioning of mercury cell chlor8 alkali facilities in the United States; and 

9 ‘‘(B) any other supplies that may require 

10 storage to carry out this Act; 

11 ‘‘(5) for the 40-year period beginning on the 

12 date of submission of the report, the estimated 

13 quantity of elemental mercury generated from the 

14 recycling of unwanted products and other wastes 

15 that will require storage to comply with the export 

16 prohibitions under this Act; 

17 ‘‘(6) any legal, technical, economic, or other 

18 barrier that may prevent the private sector from 

19 storing elemental mercury produced by the private 

20 sector during the 40-year period beginning on the 

21 date of submission of the report, including a descrip22 tion of measures to address the barriers; 

23 ‘‘(7) the advantages and disadvantages of con24 solidating the storage of mercury produced by public 


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1 and private sources under the management of the 

2 public or private sector; 

3 ‘‘(8) the optimal plan of the Committee for 

4 storing excess mercury produced by public and pri5 vate sources; and 

6 ‘‘(9) additional research, if any, required to de7 termine a long-term disposal option for the storage 

8 of excess mercury. 

9 ‘‘(g) COMPENSATION OF MEMBERS.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

11 ‘‘(A) NON-FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—A 

12 member of the Committee who is not an officer 

13 or employee of the Federal Government shall be 

14 compensated at a rate equal to the daily equiva15 lent of the annual rate of basic pay prescribed 

16 for level V of the Executive Schedule under sec17 tion 5316 of title 5, United States Code, for 

18 each day (including travel time) during which 

19 the member is engaged in the performance of 

20 the duties of the Committee. 

21 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL EMPLOYEES.—A member 

22 of the Committee who is an officer or employee 

23 of the Federal Government shall serve without 

24 compensation in addition to the compensation 


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1 received for the services of the member as an 

2 officer or employee of the Federal Government. 

3 ‘‘(2) TRAVEL EXPENSES.—A member of the 

4 Committee shall be allowed travel expenses, includ5 ing per diem in lieu of subsistence, at rates author6 ized for an employee of an agency under subchapter 

7 I of chapter 57 of title 5, United States Code, while 

8 away from the home or regular place of business of 

9 the member in the performance of the duties of the 

10 Committee. 

11 ‘‘(h) STAFF AND FUNDING.—The Administrator 

12 shall provide to the Committee such funding and addi13 tional personnel as are necessary to enable the Committee 

14 to perform the duties of the Committee. 

15 ‘‘(i) TERMINATION.—The Committee shall terminate 

16 180 days after the date on which the Committee submits 

17 the report of the Committee under subsection (f).’’. 

18 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS AMENDMENT.—The table 

19 of contents of the Toxic Substances Control Act is amend20 ed by adding after the item relating to section 31 the fol21 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 32. Excess Mercury Storage Advisory Committee.’’. 

Æ 


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