Detailed Instructions: In this task, you are given text for US Congressional and California state bills, your task is to generate a summary for this bill.
Q: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ''Comprehensive National Mercury
Monitoring Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

Congress finds the following:
(1) Mercury is a potent neurotoxin of significant
ecological and public health concern.
(2) It is estimated that more than 410,000 children born
each year in the United States are exposed to levels of mercury
in the womb that are high enough to impair neurological
development.
(3) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has
found that 6 percent of women in the United States of
childbearing age have blood mercury levels in excess of values
determined to be safe by the Environmental Protection Agency.
(4) Exposure to mercury occurs largely by consumption of
contaminated fish. At the same time, fish and shellfish are an
important source of dietary protein, and a healthy fishing
resource is important to the economy of the United States.
(5) Fish and shellfish contain high-quality protein and
other essential nutrients, are low in saturated fat, and
contain omega-3 fatty acids. A well-balanced diet that includes
a variety of fish and shellfish can contribute to heart health
and children's proper growth and development. A national
mercury monitoring network will provide consistent scientific
data on the status of this vital nutritional and commercial
resource.
(6) In many locations, the primary route for mercury input
to aquatic ecosystems is atmospheric emissions, transport, and
deposition. Computer models and other assessment tools provide
varying effectiveness in predicting mercury concentrations in
fish and existing broad-scale data sets are insufficient to
test model predictions.
(7) As the Federal Government and State governments advance
regulations to curb mercury emissions, such regulations should
be evaluated by a nationwide monitoring network that can
document whether such regulations are effective.

SEC. 3. MONITORING PROGRAM.

(a) Establishment.--
(1) In general.--The Administrator, in consultation with
the heads of applicable Federal agencies, shall establish a
long-term national-scale mercury monitoring program to track--
(A) long-term trends in atmospheric mercury
concentrations and deposition; and
(B) in response to changing mercury emissions over
time, mercury levels in--
(i) watersheds and surface waters; and
(ii) fish and wildlife in terrestrial,
freshwater, and coastal ecosystems.
(2) Monitoring sites.--
(A) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act and in coordination the
Mercury Monitoring Advisory Committee, the
Administrator, in consultation with the heads of the
applicable Federal agencies, shall select multiple
monitoring sites for the mercury monitoring program
established under this section representing different
ecoregions of the United States.
(B) Locations.--Locations of monitoring sites for
the mercury monitoring program established under this
section shall include, national parks, national
wildlife refuges, national estuarine reserves, and
sensitive ecological areas in which substantive changes
are expected from reductions in domestic mercury
emissions. Such monitoring sites shall be co-located
with sites from other long-term environmental
monitoring programs, as practicable, including sites
associated with the National Ecological Observatory
Network, Long Term Ecological Research Network, and the
National Atmospheric Deposition Program.
(3) Monitoring protocols.--Not later than 1 year after the
date of enactment of this Act and in coordination with the
Mercury Monitoring Advisory Committee, the Administrator shall
establish and publish standardized measurement protocols for
the mercury monitoring program established under this section,
including data assurance and quality standards consistent with
standards developed by the Federal Geographic Data Committee
for use by Federal agencies and other data gathering entities.
(4) Data collection and distribution.--Not later than 1
year after the date of enactment of this Act and in
coordination with the Mercury Monitoring Advisory Committee,
the Administrator shall establish a centralized database for
existing and newly collected environmental mercury data that
can be freely accessed online once data assurance and quality
standards established by the Administrator under paragraph (3)
are met.
(b) Air and Watersheds.--The mercury monitoring program established
under this section shall monitor long-term changes in mercury levels in
air and watersheds at sites selected under subsection (a)(2), including
through--
(1) the measurement and recording of wet, and estimation of
dry, mercury deposition, mercury flux, and mercury export;
(2) the measurement and recording of the level of mercury
reemitted from aquatic and terrestrial environments into the
atmosphere; and
(3) the measurement of sulfur species and ancillary
measurements at a portion of the monitoring sites to fully
understand the cycling of mercury through the ecosystem.
(c) Water and Soil Chemistry.--The mercury monitoring program
established under this section shall monitor long-term changes in
mercury and methylmercury levels in water and soil at sites selected
under subsection (a)(2), including through--
(1) extraction and analysis of sediment cores;
(2) measurement and recording of total mercury and
methylmercury concentration, and percent methylmercury in
surface sediments;
(3) measurement and recording of total mercury and
methylmercury concentration in surface water; and
(4) measurement and recording of total mercury and
methylmercury concentrations throughout the water column and
sediments.
(d) Aquatic and Terrestrial Organisms.--The mercury monitoring
program established under this section shall monitor long-term changes
in mercury and methylmercury levels in the aquatic and terrestrial
organisms at sites selected under subsection (a)(2), including
through--
(1) measurement and recording of total mercury and
methylmercury concentrations in zooplankton and other
invertebrates;
(2) measurement and recording of total mercury and
methylmercury concentrations in yearling fish;
(3) measurement and recording of total mercury and
methylmercury concentrations in commercially, recreationally,
or conservation relevant fish;
(4) measurement and recording of total mercury
concentrations in selected insect- and fish-eating birds; and
(5) measurement and recording of total mercury
concentrations in selected insect- and fish-eating mammals.

SEC. 4. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

(a) Establishment.--There is established a scientific advisory
committee, to be known as the ''Mercury Monitoring Advisory
Committee'', to advise the Administrator and the heads of the
applicable Federal agencies on the establishment, site selection,
measurement, recording protocols, data integration, standardization
protocols, reporting, funding, and operation of the national mercury
monitoring program established under this Act.
(b) Membership.--The Mercury Monitoring 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;
(4) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the National
Park Service; and
(5) 2 scientists appointed by the Administrator of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

SEC. 5. REPORTS.

Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, and
every 2 years thereafter, the Administrator shall transmit to Congress
a report on the mercury monitoring program established under this Act,
including trend data. Once every 4 years, such a report shall include
an assessment of the reduction in mercury deposition rates that must be
achieved in order to prevent adverse human and ecological effects.

SEC. 6. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this Act--
(1) for fiscal year 2013, $37,000,000;
(2) for fiscal year 2014, $29,000,000; and
(3) for fiscal year 2015, $29,000,000.

SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.

In this Act:
(1) Administrator.--The term ''Administrator'' means the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) Applicable federal agency.--The term ''applicable
Federal agency'' may include the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service, the United States Geological Survey, the
National Park Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, and any other Federal agency, bureau, or
department the Administrator determines relevant.
(3) Ecoregion.--The term ''ecoregion'' means a large, as
determined by the Administrator, area of land and water that
contains a geographically distinct assemblage of natural
communities, including similar land forms, climate, ecological
processes, and vegetation.
(4) Mercury export.--The term ''mercury export'' means
mercury flux from a watershed to the corresponding water body,
or from one water body to another (such as a lake to a river),
generally expressed as mass per unit time.
(5) Mercury flux.--The term ''mercury flux'' means the rate
of transfer of mercury between ecosystem components (such as
between water and air), or between portions of ecosystem
components, expressed in terms of mass per unit time or mass
per unit area per time.
(6) Mercury monitoring advisory committee.--The term
''Mercury Monitoring Advisory Committee'' means the Mercury
Monitoring Advisory Committee established under section 4.
(7) Surface sediment.--The term ''surface sediment'' means
sediment in the uppermost 2 centimeters of a lakebed or
riverbed.
A:
Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act - Directs the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish a long-term national-scale mercury monitoring program that monitors long-term changes in: (1) mercury levels in air and watersheds, and (2) mercury and methylmercury levels in water and soil and in aquatic and terrestrial organisms.

Requires the Administrator to: (1) select multiple monitoring sites representing different U.S. ecoregions that include national parks, wildlife refuges, national estuarine reserves, and other sensitive ecological areas in which substantive changes are expected from reductions in domestic mercury emissions; (2) establish and publish standardized measurement protocols for the program; and (3) establish a centralized database for environmental mercury data.

Establishes a Mercury Monitoring Advisory Committee to advise the Administrator on the establishment, site selection, measurement, recording protocols, data integration, standardization protocols, reporting, funding, and operation of the program.

Requires the Administrator to report on the program every two years and include, every four years, an assessment of the reduction in mercury deposition rates that must be achieved in order to prevent adverse human and ecological effects.