II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3631 

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 SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 11, 2006 

Mr. OBAMA introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

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 Environmental Protection Agency re12 ports that, as of 2004, as a result of mercury con13 tamination— 

14 (A) 44 States have fish advisories covering 

15 more than 13,000,000 lake acres and more 

16 than 750,000 river miles; 

17 (B) in 21 States, the freshwater fish 

18 advisories are statewide; and 

19 (C) in 12 States, the coastal fish advisories 

20 are statewide; 

21 (5) the long-term solution to mercury pollution 

22 is to minimize global mercury use and releases of 

23 mercury to eventually achieve reduced contamination 

24 levels in the environment, rather than reducing fish 

25 consumption, since uncontaminated fish represents a 


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1 critical and healthy source of nutrition for people 

2 worldwide; 

3 (6) an estimated additional 24,000 to 30,000 

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

5 plants worldwide; 

6 (7) mercury pollution is a transboundary pollut7 ant that— 

8 (A) is deposited locally, regionally, and 

9 globally; and 

10 (B) affects bodies of water near industrial 

11 areas, such as the Great Lakes, as well as bod12 ies of water in remote areas, such as the Arctic 

13 Circle; 

14 (8)(A) of the approximately 30 plants in the 

15 United States that produce chlorine, only 8 use the 

16 obsolete ‘‘mercury cell’’ chlor-alkali process; and 

17 (B) the 8 plants described in subparagraph (A) 

18 that use the mercury cell chlor-alkali process release 

19 or lose a quantity of mercury that rivals the mercury 

20 emissions of all coal-fired power plants in the United 

21 States; 

22 (9)(A) only about 10 percent of the total quan23 tity of chlorine and caustic soda produced comes 

24 from the chlor-alkali plants described in paragraph 


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1 (8) that use the mercury cell chlor-alkali process; 

2 and 

3 (B) cost-effective alternatives are available and 

4 in use in the remaining 90 percent of chlorine and 

5 caustic soda production, and other countries, includ6 ing Japan, have already banned the mercury cell 

7 chlor-alkali process; 

8 (10) as of the date of enactment of this Act, 

9 the chlor-alkali industry in the United States pos10 sesses approximately 2,500 tons of mercury at facili11 ties using the mercury cell process and historically 

12 has used substantially greater quantities of mercury 

13 because many more facilities in the past used the 

14 mercury cell process; 

15 (11) the chlor-alkali industry acknowledges 

16 that— 

17 (A) mercury can contaminate products 

18 manufactured at mercury cell facilities; and 

19 (B) the use of some of those products re20 sults in the direct and indirect release of mer21 cury; 

22 (12) despite those quantities of mercury known 

23 to have been used or to be in use, the chlor-alkali 

24 industry and the Environmental Protection Agency 

25 have failed— 


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1 (A) to adequately account for the disposi2 tion of the mercury used at those facilities; and 

3 (B) to accurately estimate current mercury 

4 emissions; and 

5 (13) it is critically important that the United 

6 States work aggressively toward the monitoring and 

7 mitigation of domestically-used mercury. 

8 SEC. 3. STATEMENT OF POLICY. 

9 Congress declares that the United States should de10 velop policies and programs that will— 

11 (1) reduce mercury use and emissions within 

12 the United States; 

13 (2) reduce mercury releases from the reservoir 

14 of mercury currently in use or circulation within the 

15 United States; and 

16 (3) reduce exposures to mercury, particularly 

17 exposures of women of childbearing age and young 

18 children. 

19 SEC. 4. USE OF MERCURY IN CHLORINE AND CAUSTIC 

20 SODA MANUFACTURING. 

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title I of the Toxic Substances 

22 Control Act (15 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.) is amended by in23 serting after section 6 the following: 


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1 ‘‘SEC. 6A. USE OF MERCURY IN CHLORINE AND CAUSTIC 

2 SODA MANUFACTURING. 

3 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

4 ‘‘(1) CHLOR-ALKALI FACILITY.—The term 

5 ‘chlor-alkali facility’ means a facility used for the 

6 manufacture of chlorine or caustic soda using a mer7 cury cell process. 

8 ‘‘(2) HAZARDOUS WASTE; SOLID WASTE.—The 

9 terms ‘hazardous waste’ and ‘solid waste’ have the 

10 meanings given those terms in section 1004 of the 

11 Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6903). 

12 ‘‘(b) PROHIBITION.—Effective beginning January 1, 

13 2012, the manufacture of chlorine or caustic soda using 

14 mercury cells is prohibited in the United States. 

15 ‘‘(c) REPORTING.— 

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

17 2007, and annually thereafter through April 1, 

18 2012, the owner or operator of each chlor-alkali fa19 cility shall submit to the Administrator and the 

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

21 report that identifies— 

22 ‘‘(A) each type and quantity of mercury23 containing hazardous waste and nonhazardous 

24 solid waste generated by the chlor-alkali facility 

25 during the preceding calendar year; 

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


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

2 managed, including the location of each offsite 

3 location to which the waste was transported for 

4 subsequent handling or management; 

5 ‘‘(D) the volume of mercury released, in6 tentionally or unintentionally, into the air or 

7 water by the chlor-alkali facility, including mer8 cury released from emissions or vaporization; 

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

10 have accumulated in pipes and plant equipment 

11 of the chlor-alkali facility, including a descrip12 tion of— 

13 ‘‘(i) the applicable volume for each 

14 type of equipment; and 

15 ‘‘(ii) methods of accumulation; and 

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

17 found in all products produced for sale by the 

18 chlor-alkali facility. 

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

20 duplication, the Administrator may permit the owner 

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

22 to combine and submit the report required under 

23 this subsection with any report required to be sub24 mitted by the owner or operator under subtitle C of 


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

2 seq.). 

3 ‘‘(d) INVENTORY.— 

4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—For each chlor-alkali facil5 ity that ceases operations on or after July 1, 2008, 

6 not later than 1 year after the date of cessation of 

7 operations, the Administrator, in consultation with 

8 the State in which the facility is located, shall con9 duct a comprehensive mercury inventory covering 

10 the life and closure of the chlor-alkali facility, taking 

11 into the account— 

12 ‘‘(A) the total quantity of mercury pur13 chased to start and operate the chlor-alkali fa14 cility; 

15 ‘‘(B) the total quantity of mercury remain16 ing in mercury cells and other equipment at the 

17 time of closure of the chlor-alkali facility; 

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

19 hazardous waste, nonhazardous solid waste, and 

20 products generated at the chlor-alkali facility 

21 during the operational life of the chlor-alkali fa22 cility; and 

23 ‘‘(D) the estimated aggregate mercury re24 leases from the chlor-alkali facility into air and 

25 other environmental media. 


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1 ‘‘(2) RECORDS AND INFORMATION.—In car2 rying out paragraph (1), the Administrator shall ob3 tain mercury purchase records and such other infor4 mation from each chlor-alkali facility as are nec5 essary to determine, as accurately as practicable 

6 from available information, the magnitude and na7 ture of mercury releases from the chlor-alkali facility 

8 into air and other environmental media. 

9 ‘‘(e) TRANSFER TO STORAGE.— 

10 ‘‘(1) REGULATIONS.—Not later than July 1, 

11 2008, the Administrator shall promulgate regula12 tions establishing the terms and conditions necessary 

13 to facilitate the transfer and storage of mercury lo14 cated at closed or closing chlor-alkali facilities, in15 cluding the allocation of costs and potential liabil16 ities of that transfer and storage. 

17 ‘‘(2) DEADLINE FOR TRANSFER.—Beginning on 

18 July 1, 2008, elemental mercury located at a closed 

19 or closing chlor-alkali facility that has ceased oper20 ations shall be transferred to a storage facility estab21 lished by the Administrator in accordance with the 

22 regulations promulgated under paragraph (1). 

23 ‘‘(f) HEALTH ASSESSMENT.—Not later than July 1, 

24 2009, for each chlor-alkali facility that continues to oper25 ate as of July 1, 2008, the Administrator, in coordination 


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1 with the Administrator of the Agency for Toxic Sub2 stances and Disease Registry, shall conduct a health as3 sessment of employees at the chlor-alkali facility. 

4 ‘‘(g) REGULATIONS.—In addition to regulations de5 scribed in subsection (e)(1), the Administrator may pro6 mulgate such regulations, including the establishment of 

7 a reporting form for use in accordance with subparagraph 

8 (c), as are necessary to carry out this section.’’. 

9 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—The table of con10 tents of the Toxic Substances Control Act (15 U.S.C. 

11 2601 note) is amended by inserting after the item relating 

12 to section 6 the following: 

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

Æ 


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