I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2391 
To provide for the reduction of mercury in the environment. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 17, 2005 
Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. STARK, 
Ms. LEE, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. OWENS, Ms. JACKSON- 
LEE of Texas, Mr. KUCINICH, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. 
HASTINGS of Florida, and Mr. WEXLER) 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Safe Communities and 
Safe Schools Mercury Reduction Act of 2005’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
The Congress finds the following: 
(1) Mercury is a naturally occurring element 
and bioaccumulative toxin that is easily absorbed
through skin and respiratory and gastrointestinal 
tissues. 
(2) Although mercury is naturally occurring, 
studies have shown that its concentration has in-
creased dramatically over the past 150 to 200 years 
due to mining and industrial activities. 
(3) Common sources of mercury released into 
the environment include breakage of mercury-con-
taining products like fluorescent bulbs and thermom-
eters, the manufacturing of mercury-containing 
products, and incineration of mercury-containing 
products. 
(4) According to recent studies, mercury depos-
its are a significant public health threat in many 
States throughout the United States. 
(5) Fetuses, infants, and young children are at 
the greatest risk from chronic low level mercury ex-
posure. 
(6) A study by the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention found that approximately 8 percent 
of women of childbearing age in the United States 
had mercury levels exceeding the level considered 
safe by the Environmental Protection Agency for 
protecting the fetus. This translates into approxi-
mately 60,000 babies born each year in the United
States at risk of developmental harm due to mercury 
exposure in the womb. 
(7) A study published in the Journal of Obstet-
rics and Gynecology found that elevated mercury ex-
posures associated with seafood could be linked to 
an increased risk of infertility in both men and 
women. 
(8) Mercury pollution is widespread. As of early 
2003, 43 States had issued mercury fish consump-
tion advisories for one or more freshwater or marine 
fish. 
(9) Mercury is the most common pollutant trig-
gering fish consumption advisories in the United 
States. The number of mercury advisories has in-
creased 138 percent from 1994 to 2002. In 2002, 
mercury advisories covered 12,000,000 lake acres 
and 470,000 river miles. 
(10) According to the Mercury Study Report, 
prepared by the Environmental Protection Agency 
and submitted to Congress in 1997, mercury fever 
thermometers contribute approximately 17 tons of 
mercury to solid waste each year. 
(11) Numerous mercury spills have been docu-
mented in schools, often causing thousands of dol-
lars to clean up. A mercury spill in Washington,
D.C., in September of 2003 cost over $1,000,000 to 
clean up and resulted in a temporary school closure 
of several weeks. 
(12) Mercury-containing thermostats generally 
contain 3 grams of mercury, which is enough mer-
cury to poison a 60 acre lake for one year. 
(13) Automobile scrapping is the fourth largest 
source of mercury pollution nationwide, behind waste 
incineration, coal-fired power plants, and commercial 
and industrial boilers. It is estimated that about 
20,000 pounds of automotive mercury are released 
each year in the United States. 
SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the En-
vironmental Protection Agency (in this Act referred to as 
the ‘‘Administrator’’) shall establish a program for making 
renewable grants to governmental and nonprofit agencies 
and organizations, and to for-profit entities, for projects 
to— 
(1) reduce harmful free-flowing elemental mer-
cury and mercury-added products from the environ-
ment; 
(2) safely dispose of or recycle harmful mer-
cury;
(3) educate communities and citizens about the 
harmful effects of mercury; 
(4) develop and carry out a plan, in accordance 
with guidance provided by the Administrator under 
section 5, on how to eliminate free flowing mercury 
and instruments containing mercury from the prem-
ises of K–12 public and private schools; 
(5) carry out a mercury thermometer exchange 
program; or 
(6) facilitate the recovery and safe disposal and 
management of mercury-added components from 
automobiles. 
(b) PROCEDURES AND SELECTION CRITERIA.—The 
Administrator shall establish procedures for the selection 
of grant recipients under this section, including require-
ments that appropriate records and information be made 
available to the Administrator as necessary to ensure that 
grant funds are used for the purposes for which they are 
provided. Criteria for selection shall include— 
(1) strengths and weaknesses of the project; 
(2) adequacy of overall project design; 
(3) competency of proposed staff; 
(4) suitability of applicant’s available resources; 
(5) appropriateness of the proposed project du-
ration and budget; and
(6) probability that the project will accomplish 
stated objectives. 
(c) 
RECYCLING
PROGRAMS.—Funds 
provided 
through a grant provided under this section may be used 
for a recycling program only if more than 50 percent of 
the total material recycled under the program is mercury. 
(d) AUTOMOBILE COMPONENTS.—The Administrator 
shall encourage States to develop programs that facilitate 
the recovery and safe disposal and management of mer-
cury-added component parts from automobiles. These pro-
grams should target the removal of mercury-added compo-
nents when they are being replaced or removed from 
scrapped vehicles. 
(e) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator for 
carrying out this section $75,000,000 for each of the fiscal 
years 2006 through 2009. 
SEC. 4. SALE OF THERMOMETERS; THERMOSTAT REPLACE-
MENT AND RECYCLING. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of the Solid Waste Dis-
posal Act (42 U.S.C. 6921 et seq.) is amended by adding 
at the end the following: 
‘‘SEC. 3024. MERCURY. 
‘‘(a) SALE OF THERMOMETERS.—Effective beginning 
180 days after the date of enactment of this section—