I 

108TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4260

To provide for the reduction of mercury in the environment. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 4, 2004

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, and Ms. LEE) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and 

Commerce 

A BILL

To provide for the reduction of mercury in the environment.

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 ‘‘Safe Communities and 

5 Safe Schools Mercury Reduction Act of 2004’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds the following: 

8 (1) Mercury is a naturally occurring element 

9 and bioaccumulative toxin that is easily absorbed 

10 through skin and respiratory and gastrointestinal 

11 tissues. 
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1 (2) Although mercury is naturally occurring, 

2 studies have shown that its concentration has in3 creased dramatically over the past 150 to 200 years 

4 due to mining and industrial activities. 

5 (3) Common sources of mercury released into 

6 the environment include breakage of mercury-con7 taining products like fluorescent bulbs and thermom8 eters, the manufacturing of mercury-containing 

9 products, and incineration of mercury-containing 

10 products. 

11 (4) According to recent studies, mercury depos12 its are a significant public health threat in many 

13 States throughout the United States. 

14 (5) Fetuses, infants, and young children are at 

15 the greatest risk from chronic low level mercury ex16 posure. 

17 (6) A study by the Centers for Disease Control 

18 and Prevention found that approximately 8 percent 

19 of women of childbearing age in the United States 

20 had mercury levels exceeding the level considered 

21 safe by the Environmental Protection Agency for 

22 protecting the fetus. This translates into approxi23 mately 60,000 babies born each year in the United 

24 States at risk of developmental harm due to mercury 

25 exposure in the womb. 
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1 (7) A study published in the Journal of Obstet2 rics and Gynecology found that elevated mercury ex3 posures associated with seafood could be linked to 

4 an increased risk of infertility in both men and 

5 women. 

6 (8) Mercury pollution is widespread. As of early 

7 2003, 43 States had issued mercury fish consump8 tion advisories for one or more freshwater or marine 

9 fish. 

10 (9) Mercury is the most common pollutant trig11 gering fish consumption advisories in the United 

12 States. The number of mercury advisories has in13 creased 138 percent from 1994 to 2002. In 2002, 

14 mercury advisories covered 12,000,000 lake acres 

15 and 470,000 river miles. 

16 (10) According to the Mercury Study Report, 

17 prepared by the Environmental Protection Agency 

18 and submitted to Congress in 1997, mercury fever 

19 thermometers contribute approximately 17 tons of 

20 mercury to solid waste each year. 

21 (11) Numerous mercury spills have been docu22 mented in schools, often causing thousands of dol23 lars to clean up. A mercury spill in Washington, 

24 D.C., in September of 2003 cost over $1,000,000 to 
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1 clean up and resulted in a temporary school closure 

2 of several weeks. 

3 (12) Mercury-containing thermostats generally 

4 contain 3 grams of mercury, which is enough mer5 cury to poison a 60 acre lake for one year. 

6 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 

7 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the En8 vironmental Protection Agency (in this Act referred to as 

9 the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall establish a program for making 

10 renewable grants to governmental and nonprofit agencies 

11 and organizations, and to for-profit entities, for projects 

12 to—

13 (1) reduce harmful free-flowing elemental mer14 cury and mercury-added products from the environ15 ment; 

16 (2) safely dispose of or recycle harmful mer17 cury; 

18 (3) educate communities and citizens about the 

19 harmful effects of mercury; 

20 (4) develop and carry out a plan, in accordance 

21 with guidance provided by the Administrator under 

22 section 5, on how to eliminate free flowing mercury 

23 and instruments containing mercury from the prem24 ises of K–12 public and private schools; or 
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1 (5) carry out a mercury thermometer exchange 

2 program. 

3 (b) PROCEDURES AND SELECTION CRITERIA.—The 

4 Administrator shall establish procedures for the selection 

5 of grant recipients under this section, including require6 ments that appropriate records and information be made 

7 available to the Administrator as necessary to ensure that 

8 grant funds are used for the purposes for which they are 

9 provided. Criteria for selection shall include—

10 (1) strengths and weaknesses of the project; 

11 (2) adequacy of overall project design; 

12 (3) competency of proposed staff; 

13 (4) suitability of applicant’s available resources; 

14 (5) appropriateness of the proposed project du15 ration and budget; and 

16 (6) probability that the project will accomplish 

17 stated objectives. 

18 (c) RECYCLING PROGRAMS.—Funds provided 

19 through a grant provided under this section may be used 

20 for a recycling program only if more than 50 percent of 

21 the total material recycled under the program is mercury. 

22 (d) ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—Not more than 10 

23 percent of the amount appropriated for a fiscal year under 

24 subsection (e)(1) may be used by the Administrator for 

25 the administrative expenses of carrying out this section. 
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1 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—

2 (1) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be 

3 appropriated to the Administrator for carrying out 

4 this section $75,000,000 for each of the fiscal years 

5 2005 through 2008. 

6 (2) SET ASIDE.—For each of the first 3 fiscal 

7 years for which funds are provided under paragraph 

8 (1), at least 40 percent of the amounts made avail9 able shall be reserved for projects described in sub10 section (a)(4) or (5), unless a sufficient number of 

11 qualified applications has not been received. 

12 SEC. 4. SALE OF THERMOMETERS; THERMOSTAT REPLACE13 MENT AND RECYCLING. 

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of the Solid Waste Dis15 posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) is amended by adding 

16 at the end the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 3024. MERCURY. 

18 ‘‘(a) SALE OF THERMOMETERS.—Effective beginning 

19 180 days after the date of enactment of this section—

20 ‘‘(1) a person shall not sell or supply a mercury 

21 fever thermometer to a consumer, except by pre22 scription; and 

23 ‘‘(2) with each mercury fever thermometer sold 

24 or supplied by prescription, the manufacturer of the 

25 thermometer shall provide clear instructions on—
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1 ‘‘(A) careful handling of the thermometer 

2 to avoid breakage; and 

3 ‘‘(B) proper cleanup of the thermometer 

4 and its contents in the event of breakage. 

5 ‘‘(b) THERMOSTAT REPLACEMENT.—Effective begin6 ning 2 years after the date of enactment of this section—

7 ‘‘(1) a contractor who replaces a building ther8 mostat in a residential or commercial building shall 

9 dispose of the replaced thermostat through a recy10 cling program established or participated in under 

11 paragraph (2); and 

12 ‘‘(2) each manufacturer of building thermostats 

13 for installation in a residential or commercial build14 ing shall—

15 ‘‘(A) establish or participate in a program 

16 for the safe and environmentally responsible re17 cycling of thermostats replaced by the manufac18 turer’s thermostats; and 

19 ‘‘(B) establish or participate in a program 

20 to clearly educate individuals who sell or install 

21 the manufacturer’s thermostats about the pro22 gram established under subparagraph (A).’’. 

23 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 1001 of the 

24 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. prec. 6901) is 
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1 amended by adding at the end of the items relating to 

2 subtitle C the following:

‘‘Sec. 3024. Mercury.’’.

3 SEC. 5. SCHOOL PREMISES GUIDANCE. 

4 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

5 of this Act, the Administrator shall publish guidance to 

6 assist State and local governments to remove elemental 

7 free-flowing mercury and mercury-added instruments 

8 from the premises of public and private schools. Thermo9 stats, computers, and motorized vehicles shall not be con10 sidered instruments for the purposes of this section. 

11 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT. 

12 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Administrator, 

14 after obtaining necessary information from appropriate 

15 State agencies, shall transmit to the Congress a report on 

16 the progress made under this Act. Such report shall in17 clude—

18 (1) an executive summary; 

19 (2) a brief description of the background of this 

20 Act; 

21 (3) a State-by-State progress summary of mer22 cury reduction efforts relating to this Act, including 

23 a quantitative analysis of the amount of mercury 

24 eliminated, recycled, or disposed of in each State, 
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1 and an identification of the method or program re2 sponsible; 

3 (4) a description of grants and amounts award4 ed under section 3, and of the criteria used for 

5 awarding those grants; 

6 (5) a summary of a few selected mercury reduc7 tion programs that received grants, with a descrip8 tion of the success or problems each program had; 

9 (6) a detailed financial reporting of total ad10 ministration costs of carrying out this Act; 

11 (7) a joint summary, by the Administrator and 

12 appropriate State officials, that describes the coordi13 nation and communication progress and problems 

14 between the Federal and State Governments in car15 rying out this Act; and 

16 (8) recommendations for greater efficiency or 

17 improvement of administration of this Act. 

18 SEC. 7. MERCURY AMALGAM REDUCTION. 

19 Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment 

20 of this Act, the Administrator shall issue regulations re21 quiring dentists to install a device that captures 90 per22 cent or more of mercury-laden amalgam on every chair 

23 or office structure in which mercury amalgam is adminis24 tered to their patients. The Administrator may provide for 

25 waivers from the requirements of this section for struc-
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1 tural obstacle or significant financial economic harm rea2 sons.

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