I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1533 

To provide for the establishment of a national mercury monitoring program. 

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 provide for the establishment of a national mercury 

monitoring program. 

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 Program Establishment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Mercury is a potent neurotoxin of signifi9 cant ecological and public health concern. Exposure 

10 to mercury occurs largely by consumption of con11 taminated fish. Children and women of childbearing 


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1 age who consume large amounts of fish are at high 

2 risk of adverse effects. It is estimated that 200,000 

3 to 400,000 children born each year in the United 

4 States have been exposed to mercury levels in their 

5 mothers’ wombs high enough to impair neurological 

6 development. The Centers for Disease Control and 

7 Prevention have found that eight percent of the 

8 women in the United States of childbearing age have 

9 blood mercury levels in excess of values deemed safe 

10 by the Environmental Protection Agency. 

11 (2) As of 2004, fish consumption advisories due 

12 to mercury contamination have been issued for 44 

13 States, including 21 statewide advisories for 

14 freshwaters and 12 statewide advisories for coastal 

15 waters. These advisories represent more than 52,000 

16 square kilometers of lakes and 1,230,000 kilometers 

17 of rivers. Yet, fish and shellfish are an important 

18 source of dietary protein, and a healthy fishing re19 source is important to the economy. The extent of 

20 fish consumption advisories underscores the exten21 sive human and ecological health risk posed by mer22 cury pollution. 

23 (3) In most locations, the primary route for 

24 mercury input to aquatic ecosystems is by atmos25 pheric transport and deposition. Mercury’s interVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:08 Mar 16, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1533.IH H1533

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1 action with the environment and bioaccumulation in 

2 biota are not fully understood. Computer models and 

3 other assessment tools predict varying effectiveness 

4 in reducing mercury concentrations in fish, and no 

5 broad-scale data sets exist to test model predictions. 

6 (4) In September 2003, the Society of Environ7 mental Toxicology and Chemistry convened a work8 shop of 32 mercury scientists to develop a system to 

9 measure and document changes resulting from re10 ductions in mercury emissions in the United States. 

11 The resulting plan is documented in the book ‘‘State 

12 of Science for Mercury Effects: Assessment for 

13 Aquatic and Terrestrial Environments’’, published in 

14 2007. 

15 (5) On January 1, 2005, ‘‘Monitoring the Re16 sponse to Changing Mercury Deposition’’ was pub17 lished in the periodical Environmental Science and 

18 Technology. The article proposed a ‘‘holistic, multi19 media, long-term mercury monitoring program’’. 

20 (6) Many regulations limiting mercury emis21 sions have either gone into effect or will soon be en22 acted, but scientists are not adequately measuring 

23 the environmental benefits of reduced mercury emis24 sions. As governments advance regulations, governVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:08 Mar 16, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1533.IH H1533

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1 ments should document whether their rules are ef2 fective. 

3 (7) On May 15, 2006, the Office of Inspector 

4 General of the Environmental Protection Agency 

5 issued a report entitled, ‘‘Monitoring Needed to As6 sess Impact of EPA’s Clean Air Mercury Rule 

7 (CAMR) on Potential Hotspots’’, Report No. 2006– 

8 P–0025, which states, in part: ‘‘Without field data 

9 from an improved monitoring network, EPA’s ability 

10 to advance mercury science will be limited and ‘util11 ity-attributable’ hotspots that pose health risks may 

12 occur and go undetected’’ and ‘‘We recommend that 

13 EPA develop and implement a mercury monitoring 

14 plan to (1) assess the impact of CAMR, if adopted, 

15 on mercury deposition and fish tissue; and (2) evalu16 ate and refine mercury estimation tools and mod17 els’’. 

18 (8) On January 4, 2007, ‘‘Contamination in 

19 Remote Forest and Aquatic Ecosystems in the 

20 Northeastern U.S.: Sources, Transformations and 

21 Management Options’’ and ‘‘Biological Mercury 

22 Hotspots in the Northeastern U.S. and Southeastern 

23 Canada’’ were published in the journal BioScience. 

24 The authors identified five biological mercury 

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1 eastern United States and southeastern Canada as2 sociated primarily with atmospheric mercury emis3 sions and deposition. They further located an area 

4 of particularly high mercury deposition adjacent to 

5 a coal-fired electric utility in southern New Hamp6 shire. The authors of the studies concluded that 

7 local impacts from mercury emissions should be 

8 closely monitored in order to assess the impact of 

9 State and Federal policies. 

10 SEC. 3. MONITORING PROGRAM. 

11 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the En12 vironmental Protection Agency, in consultation with the 

13 United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the United States 

14 Geological Survey, the Forest Service, the National Park 

15 Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad16 ministration, shall establish a national scale mercury mon17 itoring program. For purposes of such program, the Ad18 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall 

19 select multiple monitoring sites in ecoregions of the United 

20 States. 

21 (b) AIR AND WATERSHED.—The program under this 

22 section shall monitor long-term changes in mercury levels 

23 in the air and watershed, including— 

24 (1) at locations selected under subsection (a) 

25 that the Administrator of the Environmental ProtecVerDate Aug 31 2005 18:08 Mar 16, 2007 Jkt 059196 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1533.IH H1533

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1 tion Agency determines appropriate, measuring and 

2 recording wet mercury deposition; 

3 (2) at a portion of such locations that the Ad4 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

5 determines is appropriate, measuring and recording 

6 atmospheric mercury speciation and estimates of the 

7 dry deposition of mercury; 

8 (3) at a portion of such locations that the Ad9 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

10 determines is appropriate, measuring and recording 

11 mercury flux and mercury export; and 

12 (4) measuring and recording the level of mer13 cury re-emitted from aquatic and terrestrial environ14 ments into the atmosphere. 

15 (c) WATER AND SOIL CHEMISTRY.—The program 

16 under this section shall monitor mercury levels in water 

17 and soil chemistry, including— 

18 (1) at a portion of all locations selected under 

19 subsection (a) that the Administrator of the Envi20 ronmental Protection Agency determines is appro21 priate, extracting and analyzing sediment cores; 

22 (2) measuring and recording total mercury con23 centration, methyl mercury concentration, and per24 cent methyl mercury in surface sediments; 


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1 (3) measuring and recording total mercury con2 centration and methyl mercury concentration in sur3 face water; and 

4 (4) at a portion of such locations that the Ad5 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

6 determines is appropriate, measuring and recording 

7 total mercury concentrations and methyl mercury 

8 concentrations throughout the water column. 

9 (d) AQUATIC PLANTS AND ANIMALS.—The program 

10 under this section shall monitor mercury levels in plants 

11 and animals, including— 

12 (1) measuring and recording methyl mercury 

13 levels in yearling fish; 

14 (2) measuring and recording mercury levels, 

15 and other scientific data relevant to assessing the 

16 health of the fish population, in commercially or 

17 recreationally important fish; 

18 (3) measuring and recording mercury levels in 

19 the appropriate tissue in reptiles, amphibians, birds, 

20 and mammals; and 

21 (4) at a portion of all locations selected under 

22 subsection (a) that the Administrator of the Envi23 ronmental Protection Agency determines is appro24 priate, measuring and recording mercury levels in 


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1 phytoplankton, algae, zooplankton, and benthic in2 vertebrates. 

3 (e) SELECTION OF MONITORING SITES.—The Ad4 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall, 

5 not later than 12 months after the date of enactment of 

6 this Act and in coordination with the Scientific Advisory 

7 Committee, recommend appropriate sites for monitoring 

8 under the program established under this section. 

9 SEC. 4. SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 

10 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There shall be established a 

11 Scientific Advisory Committee to advise the Administrator 

12 of the Environmental Protection Agency on the establish13 ment, site selection, and operation of the national mercury 

14 monitoring program under this Act. 

15 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Scientific Advisory Com16 mittee shall consist of scientists who are not employees 

17 of the Federal Government, including— 

18 (1) 3 scientists appointed by the Administrator 

19 of the Environmental Protection Agency; 

20 (2) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 

21 United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 

22 (3) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 

23 National Park Service; 

24 (4) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 

25 Forest Service; 


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1 (5) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 

2 United States Geological Survey; and 

3 (6) 2 scientists appointed by the Administrator 

4 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis5 tration. 

6 SEC. 5. REPORTS AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE. 

7 (a) REPORTS.—The Administrator of the Environ8 mental Protection Agency shall transmit to Congress a re9 port on the program under this Act not later than 2 years 

10 after the date of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years 

11 thereafter. Once every 4 years, such report shall include 

12 an assessment of the reduction in mercury deposition rates 

13 that must be achieved in order to prevent adverse ecologi14 cal effects. 

15 (b) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—All data obtained pur16 suant to this Act shall be made available to the public. 

17 SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

18 There are authorized to be appropriated for carrying 

19 out this Act— 

20 (1) for fiscal year 2008— 

21 (A) to the Environmental Protection Agen22 cy $7,000,000; 

23 (B) to the United States Geological Survey 

24 $4,500,000; 


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1 (C) to the Fish and Wildlife Service 

2 $4,500,000; and 

3 (D) to the National Oceanic and Atmos4 pheric Administration $2,000,000; 

5 (2) for fiscal year 2009— 

6 (A) to the Environmental Protection Agen7 cy $5,000,000; 

8 (B) to the United States Geological Survey 

9 $3,000,000; 

10 (C) to the Fish and Wildlife Service 

11 $3,000,000; and 

12 (D) to the National Oceanic and Atmos13 pheric Administration $1,000,000; 

14 (3) for fiscal year 2010— 

15 (A) to the Environmental Protection Agen16 cy $5,250,000; 

17 (B) to the United States Geological Survey 

18 $3,250,000; 

19 (C) to the Fish and Wildlife Service 

20 $3,250,000; and 

21 (D) to the National Oceanic and Atmos22 pheric Administration $1,250,000; and 

23 (4) such sums as may be necessary for each of 

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1 logical Survey, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and 

2 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra3 tion. 

4 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

5 For purposes of this Act: 

6 (1) ECOREGION.—The term ‘‘ecoregion’’ means 

7 a large area of land and water that contains a geo8 graphically distinct assemblage of natural commu9 nities, including similar land forms, climate, ecologi10 cal processes, and vegetation. 

11 (2) MERCURY EXPORT.—The term ‘‘mercury 

12 export’’ means mercury flux from a watershed to the 

13 corresponding water body, or from one water body 

14 to another (e.g. a lake to a river), generally ex15 pressed as mass per unit time. 

16 (3) MERCURY FLUX.—The term ‘‘mercury flux’’ 

17 means the rate of transfer of mercury between eco18 system components (e.g. between water and air), or 

19 between portions of ecosystem components, ex20 pressed in terms of mass per unit time or mass per 

21 unit area per time. 

22 (4) SURFACE SEDIMENT.—The term ‘‘surface 

23 sediment’’ means sediment in the top 2 centimeters 

24 of a lakebed or riverbed. 

Æ 


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