Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1345 To establish a national mercury monitoring program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 22, 2021 Ms. COLLINS (for herself and Mr. CARPER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To establish a national mercury monitoring program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Comprehensive Na- 4 tional Mercury Monitoring Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds that— 7 (1) mercury is a potent neurotoxin of signifi- 8 cant ecological and public health concern; 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1345.IS S1345 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1345 IS (2) it is estimated that approximately 100,000 1 to 200,000 children born each year in the United 2 States are exposed to levels of mercury in the womb 3 that are high enough to impair neurological develop- 4 ment; 5 (3) based on estimates from the Centers for 6 Disease Control and Prevention, between 2000 and 7 2010, between 2 and 6 percent of women in the 8 United States of childbearing age have exceeded 9 blood mercury levels determined to be safe by the 10 Environmental Protection Agency; 11 (4) exposure to mercury occurs largely by the 12 consumption of contaminated fish, but fish and 13 shellfish are important sources of dietary protein 14 and micronutrients, and a healthy fishing resource is 15 important to the economy of the United States; 16 (5) in most locations, the primary route for 17 mercury input to aquatic ecosystems is atmospheric 18 emissions, transport, and deposition; 19 (6) existing broad-scale data sets are important 20 but insufficient to track changes in mercury levels in 21 the environment over time, test model predictions, 22 and assess the impact of changing mercury emis- 23 sions and deposition; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1345.IS S1345 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1345 IS (7) a comprehensive national mercury moni- 1 toring network to accurately quantify regional and 2 national changes in atmospheric mercury deposition, 3 ecosystem contamination, and bioaccumulation of 4 mercury in fish and wildlife in response to changes 5 in mercury emissions would help policy makers, sci- 6 entists, and the public to better understand the 7 sources, consequences, and trends of mercury pollu- 8 tion in the United States. 9 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 10 In this Act: 11 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 12 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ- 13 mental Protection Agency. 14 (2) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Advi- 15 sory Committee’’ means the Mercury Monitoring Ad- 16 visory Committee established under section 5(a). 17 (3) ANCILLARY MEASURE.—The term ‘‘ancillary 18 measure’’ means a measure that is used to under- 19 stand the impact and interpret results of measure- 20 ments under the program. 21 (4) ECOREGION.—The term ‘‘ecoregion’’ means 22 a large area of land and water that contains a geo- 23 graphically distinct assemblage of natural commu- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1345.IS S1345 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1345 IS nities, including similar land forms, climate, ecologi- 1 cal processes, and vegetation. 2 (5) MERCURY EXPORT.—The term ‘‘mercury 3 export’’ means mercury transport from a watershed 4 to the corresponding body of water, or from 1 body 5 of water to another body of water (such as from a 6 lake to a river), generally expressed as— 7 (A) mass per unit of time; 8 (B) mass per unit of watershed; or 9 (C) area of the water body per unit of 10 time. 11 (6) MERCURY FLUX.—The term ‘‘mercury flux’’ 12 means the rate of transfer of mercury between eco- 13 system components (such as between water and air 14 or land and air) or between portions of ecosystem 15 components, expressed in terms of— 16 (A) mass per unit of time; or 17 (B) mass per unit of area of land or water 18 per unit of time. 19 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 20 the national mercury monitoring program estab- 21 lished under section 4(a). 22 (8) SURFACE SEDIMENT.—The term ‘‘surface 23 sediment’’ means sediment in the uppermost 2 centi- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1345.IS S1345 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1345 IS meters of a lakebed, riverbed, estuary, or coastal 1 area. 2 SEC. 4. MONITORING PROGRAM. 3 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con- 5 sultation with the Director of the United States Fish 6 and Wildlife Service, the Director of the United 7 States Geological Survey, the Director of the Na- 8 tional Park Service, the Administrator of the Na- 9 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and 10 the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, 11 shall establish a national mercury monitoring pro- 12 gram. 13 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program is 14 to track— 15 (A) long-term trends in atmospheric mer- 16 cury concentrations and deposition; and 17 (B) mercury levels in watersheds, surface 18 water, and fish and wildlife in terrestrial, fresh- 19 water, coastal, and marine ecosystems in re- 20 sponse to changing mercury emissions over 21 time. 22 (3) MONITORING SITES.— 23 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out para- 24 graph (1), not later than 1 year after the date 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1345.IS S1345 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1345 IS of enactment of this Act and in coordination 1 with the Advisory Committee, the Adminis- 2 trator shall select multiple monitoring sites rep- 3 resenting multiple ecoregions and associated 4 coastal waters of the United States. 5 (B) LOCATIONS.—Locations of monitoring 6 sites shall include— 7 (i) units of the National Park System; 8 (ii) units of the National Wildlife Ref- 9 uge System; 10 (iii) units of the National Estuarine 11 Research Reserve System; 12 (iv) human communities with highly 13 exposed and vulnerable populations; and 14 (v) sensitive ecological areas in which 15 substantive changes are expected to result 16 from changes in domestic or international 17 mercury emissions. 18 (C) COLOCATION.—Monitoring sites shall 19 be co-located with sites from other long-term 20 environmental monitoring programs, where 21 practicable, including sites associated with the 22 National Ecological Observatory Network, the 23 Long Term Ecological Research Network, and 24 the National Atmospheric Deposition Program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1345.IS S1345 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1345 IS (D) MONITORING PROTOCOLS.—Not later 1 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 2 Act, the Administrator, in coordination with the 3 Advisory Committee, shall establish and publish 4 standardized measurement protocols for the 5 program. 6 (4) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.—To the 7 maximum extent practicable, the program shall be 8 compatible with similar international efforts, includ- 9 ing the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Pro- 10 gramme, the Global Earth Observation System of 11 Systems, and the monitoring associated with the ef- 12 fectiveness evaluation of the Minamata Convention 13 on Mercury, adopted October 10, 2013 (TIAS 17– 14 816), which entered into force on August 16, 2017. 15 (5) DATA COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION.— 16 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 17 of this Act, the Administrator, in coordination with 18 the Advisory Committee, shall establish— 19 (A) a centralized database for existing and 20 newly collected environmental mercury data 21 that can be freely accessed on the Internet; and 22 (B) assurance and quality standards for 23 the database under subparagraph (A). 24 (b) FUNCTIONS.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1345.IS S1345 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1345 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program, the Ad- 1 ministrator, in consultation with the appropriate 2 Federal agencies and the Advisory Committee, shall 3 at a minimum carry out monitoring described in 4 paragraphs (2) through (4) at the locations selected 5 under subsection (a)(3). 6 (2) AIR AND WATERSHEDS.—The program, in 7 association with the National Atmospheric Deposi- 8 tion Program, shall monitor long-term changes in 9 mercury levels and important ancillary measures in 10 the air, including— 11 (A) the measurement and recording of wet 12 mercury deposition; 13 (B) an estimation of— 14 (i) dry mercury deposition (such as 15 litter mercury deposition or estimates of 16 mercury accumulation in vegetation 17 through eddy covariance measurements); 18 (ii) mercury flux; and 19 (iii) mercury export; and 20 (C) the measurement of stable isotopes of 21 mercury and ancillary measurements to fully 22 understand the transport, cycling, and trans- 23 formations of mercury through ecosystems. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1345.IS S1345 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1345 IS (3) WATER AND SOIL CHEMISTRY.—The pro- 1 gram, in association with the WaterWatch Program 2 established by the United States Geological Survey, 3 shall monitor long-term changes in mercury and 4 methyl mercury levels and important ancillary meas- 5 ures in the water and soil or sediments, including— 6 (A) extraction and analysis of soil and 7 sediment cores; 8 (B) measurement and recording of total 9 mercury and methyl mercury concentration in 10 surface sediments; and 11 (C) measurement and recording of total 12 mercury and methyl mercury concentration in 13 surface waters. 14 (4) AQUATIC AND TERRESTRIAL ORGANISMS.— 15 The program, in association with the United States 16 Fish and Wildlife Service and the Inventory and 17 Monitoring Division of the National Park Service, 18 shall monitor long-term changes in mercury and 19 methyl mercury levels and important ancillary meas- 20 ures in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial orga- 21 nisms, including— 22 (A) measurement and recording of total 23 mercury and methyl mercury concentrations 24 in— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1345.IS S1345 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1345 IS (i) invertebrates; 1 (ii) yearling or lower trophic level fish; 2 and 3 (iii) commercially, recreationally, or 4 conservation relevant fish; and 5 (B) measurement and recording of total 6 mercury concentrations in— 7 (i) selected insect- and fish-eating 8 birds; and 9 (ii) selected insect- and fish-eating 10 mammals. 11 SEC. 5. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator, in con- 13 sultation with the Director of the United States Fish and 14 Wildlife Service, the Director of the United States Geo- 15 logical Survey, the Director of the National Park Service, 16 the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos- 17 pheric Administration, and the heads of other appropriate 18 Federal agencies, shall establish a scientific advisory com- 19 mittee, to be known as the ‘‘Mercury Monitoring Advisory 20 Committee’’, to advise the Administrator and those Fed- 21 eral agencies on the establishment, site selection, measure- 22 ment, recording protocols, and operation of the program. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1345.IS S1345 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 1345 IS (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Committee shall 1 consist of scientists who are not employees of the Federal 2 Government, including— 3 (1) 3 scientists appointed by the Administrator; 4 (2) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 5 United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 6 (3) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 7 United States Geological Survey; 8 (4) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 9 National Park Service; and 10 (5) 2 scientists appointed by the Administrator 11 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- 12 tration. 13 SEC. 6. REPORTS AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE. 14 (a) REPORTS.—Not later than 2 years after the date 15 of enactment of this Act and every 2 years thereafter, the 16 Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on the 17 program, including data on relevant temporal trends and 18 spatial gradients in mercury contamination in the environ- 19 ment. 20 (b) ASSESSMENT.—Not less frequently than once 21 every 4 years, the report required under subsection (a) 22 shall include an assessment of mercury deposition rates 23 that need to be achieved in order to prevent adverse 24 human and ecological effects. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1345.IS S1345 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 1345 IS (c) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The Administrator 1 shall make all data obtained under this Act available to 2 the public through a dedicated website and on written re- 3 quest. 4 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 5 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 6 this Act— 7 (1) $37,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; 8 (2) $29,000,000 for fiscal year 2023; and 9 (3) $29,000,000 for fiscal year 2024. 10 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 19:45 May 20, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1345.IS S1345 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS