I 
117TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2761 
To establish a national mercury monitoring program, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 22, 2021 
Mr. CARTWRIGHT (for himself, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. MAST, and Ms. NOR-
TON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Trans-
portation and Infrastructure, for a period to be subsequently determined 
by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall 
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To establish a national mercury monitoring program, and 
for other purposes. 
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 ‘‘Comprehensive Na-
tional Mercury Monitoring Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds that— 
(1) mercury is a potent neurotoxin of signifi-
cant ecological and public health concern; 
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(2) it is estimated that approximately 200,000 
children born each year in the United States are ex-
posed to levels of mercury in the womb that are high 
enough to impair neurological development; 
(3) based on estimates from the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention, between 2000 and 
2010, between 2 and 6 percent of women in the 
United States of childbearing age have exceeded 
blood mercury levels determined to be safe by the 
Environmental Protection Agency; 
(4) exposure to mercury occurs largely by the 
consumption of contaminated fish, but fish and 
shellfish are important sources of dietary protein 
and micronutrients, and a healthy fishing resource is 
important to the economy of the United States; 
(5) in many locations, the primary route for 
mercury input to aquatic ecosystems is atmospheric 
emissions, transport, and deposition; 
(6) existing broad-scale data sets are important 
but insufficient to track changes in mercury levels in 
the environment over time, test model predictions, 
and assess the impact of changing mercury emis-
sions and deposition; and 
(7) a comprehensive national mercury moni-
toring network to accurately quantify regional and 
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national changes in atmospheric mercury deposition, 
ecosystem contamination, and bioaccumulation of 
mercury in fish and wildlife in response to changes 
in mercury emissions would help policy makers, sci-
entists, and the public to better understand the 
sources, consequences, and trends of mercury pollu-
tion in the United States. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis-
trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ-
mental Protection Agency. 
(2) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Advi-
sory Committee’’ means the Mercury Monitoring Ad-
visory Committee established under section 5(a). 
(3) ANCILLARY MEASURE.—The term ‘‘ancillary 
measure’’ means a measure that is used to under-
stand the impact and interpret results of measure-
ments under the program. 
(4) ECOREGION.—The term ‘‘ecoregion’’ means 
a large area of land and water that contains a geo-
graphically distinct assemblage of natural commu-
nities, including similar land forms, climate, ecologi-
cal processes, and vegetation. 
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(5) MERCURY
EXPORT.—The term ‘‘mercury 
export’’ means mercury transport from a watershed 
to the corresponding body of water, or from 1 body 
of water to another body of water (such as from a 
lake to a river), generally expressed as— 
(A) mass per unit of time; or 
(B) mass per unit of watershed or body of 
water area per unit of time. 
(6) MERCURY FLUX.—The term ‘‘mercury flux’’ 
means the rate of transfer of mercury between eco-
system components (such as between water and air 
or land and air) or between portions of ecosystem 
components, expressed in terms of— 
(A) mass per unit of time; or 
(B) mass per unit of area of land or water 
per unit of time. 
(7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 
the national mercury monitoring program estab-
lished under section 4(a). 
(8) SURFACE SEDIMENT.—The term ‘‘surface 
sediment’’ means sediment in the uppermost 2 centi-
meters of a lakebed, riverbed, estuary, or coastal 
area. 
SEC. 4. MONITORING PROGRAM. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con-
sultation with the Director of the United States Fish 
and Wildlife Service, the Director of the United 
States Geological Survey, the Director of the Na-
tional Park Service, the Administrator of the Na-
tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and 
the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, 
shall establish a national mercury monitoring pro-
gram. 
(2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program is 
to track— 
(A) long-term trends in atmospheric mer-
cury concentrations and deposition; and 
(B) mercury levels in watersheds, surface 
water, and fish and wildlife in terrestrial, fresh-
water, coastal, and marine ecosystems in re-
sponse to changing mercury emissions over 
time. 
(3) MONITORING SITES.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out para-
graph (1), not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act and in coordination 
with the Advisory Committee, the Adminis-
trator shall select multiple monitoring sites rep-
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resenting multiple ecoregions and associated 
coastal waters of the United States. 
(B) LOCATIONS.—Locations of monitoring 
sites shall include— 
(i) units of the National Park System; 
(ii) units of the National Wildlife Ref-
uge System; 
(iii) units of the National Estuarine 
Research Reserve System; and 
(iv) sensitive ecological areas in which 
substantive changes are expected from re-
ductions in domestic mercury emissions. 
(C) COLOCATION.—Monitoring sites shall 
be colocated with sites from other long-term en-
vironmental monitoring programs, where prac-
ticable, including sites associated with the Na-
tional Ecological Observatory Network, the 
Long Term Ecological Research Network, and 
the National Atmospheric Deposition Program. 
(D) MONITORING PROTOCOLS.—Not later 
than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 
Act, the Administrator, in coordination with the 
Advisory Committee, shall establish and publish 
standardized measurement protocols for the 
program. 
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(4) INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION.—To the 
maximum extent practicable, the program shall be 
compatible with similar international efforts, includ-
ing the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Pro-
gramme, the Global Earth Observation System of 
Systems, and the monitoring associated with the ef-
fectiveness evaluation of the Minamata Convention 
on Mercury, adopted October 10, 2013 (TIAS 17– 
816), which entered into force on August 16, 2017. 
(5) DATA COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION.— 
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 
of this Act, the Administrator, in coordination with 
the Advisory Committee, shall establish— 
(A) a centralized database for existing and 
newly collected environmental mercury data 
that can be freely accessed on the internet; and 
(B) assurance and quality standards for 
the database under subparagraph (A). 
(b) FUNCTIONS.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program, the Ad-
ministrator, in consultation with the appropriate 
Federal agencies and the Advisory Committee, shall 
at a minimum carry out monitoring described in 
paragraphs (2) through (4) at the locations selected 
under subsection (a)(3). 
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(2) AIR AND WATERSHEDS.—The program, in 
association with the National Atmospheric Deposi-
tion Program, shall monitor long-term changes in 
mercury levels and important ancillary measures in 
the air, including— 
(A) the measurement and recording of wet 
mercury deposition; 
(B) an estimation of— 
(i) dry mercury deposition (such as 
litter mercury deposition); 
(ii) mercury flux; and 
(iii) mercury export; and 
(C) the measurement of mercury isotopes 
and ancillary measurements to fully understand 
the transport, cycling, and transformations of 
mercury through ecosystems. 
(3) WATER AND SOIL CHEMISTRY.—The pro-
gram, in association with the WaterWatch Program 
established by the United States Geological Survey, 
shall monitor long-term changes in mercury and 
methyl mercury levels and important ancillary meas-
ures in the water and soil or sediments, including— 
(A) extraction and analysis of soil and 
sediment cores; 
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(B) measurement and recording of total 
mercury and methyl mercury concentration in 
surface sediments; and 
(C) measurement and recording of total 
mercury and methyl mercury concentration in 
surface waters. 
(4) AQUATIC AND TERRESTRIAL ORGANISMS.— 
The program, in association with the United States 
Fish and Wildlife Service and the Inventory and 
Monitoring Division of the National Park Service, 
shall monitor long-term changes in mercury and 
methyl mercury levels and important ancillary meas-
ures in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial orga-
nisms, including— 
(A) measurement and recording of total 
mercury and methyl mercury concentrations 
in— 
(i) invertebrates; 
(ii) yearling or lower trophic level fish; 
and 
(iii) commercially, recreationally, or 
conservation relevant fish; and 
(B) measurement and recording of total 
mercury concentrations in— 
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(i) selected insect- and fish-eating 
birds; and 
(ii) selected insect- and fish-eating 
mammals. 
SEC. 5. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator, in con-
sultation with the Director of the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service, the Director of the United States Geo-
logical Survey, the Director of the National Park Service, 
the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration, and the heads of other appropriate 
Federal agencies, shall establish a scientific advisory com-
mittee, to be known as the ‘‘Mercury Monitoring Advisory 
Committee’’, to advise the Administrator and those Fed-
eral agencies on the establishment, site selection, measure-
ment, recording protocols, and operation of the program. 
(b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Committee shall 
consist of scientists who are not employees of the Federal 
Government, including— 
(1) 3 scientists appointed by the Administrator; 
(2) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 
United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 
(3) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 
United States Geological Survey; 
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