Comprehensive National Mercury Monitoring Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 181 To establish a national mercury monitoring program, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JANUARY 17, 2019 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 00:16 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 181 IS (2) it is estimated that approximately 200,000 1 children born each year in the United States are ex- 2 posed to levels of mercury in the womb that are high 3 enough to impair neurological development; 4 (3) based on estimates from the Centers for 5 Disease Control and Prevention, between 2000 and 6 2010, between 2 and 6 percent of women in the 7 United States of childbearing age have exceeded 8 blood mercury levels determined to be safe by the 9 Environmental Protection Agency; 10 (4) exposure to mercury occurs largely by the 11 consumption of contaminated fish, but fish and 12 shellfish are important sources of dietary protein 13 and micronutrients, and a healthy fishing resource is 14 important to the economy of the United States; 15 (5) in many locations, the primary route for 16 mercury input to aquatic ecosystems is atmospheric 17 emissions, transport, and deposition; 18 (6) existing broad-scale data sets are important 19 but insufficient to track changes in mercury levels in 20 the environment over time, test model predictions, 21 and assess the impact of changing mercury emis- 22 sions and deposition; and 23 (7) a comprehensive national mercury moni- 24 toring network to accurately quantify regional and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 181 IS national changes in atmospheric mercury deposition, 1 ecosystem contamination, and bioaccumulation of 2 mercury in fish and wildlife in response to changes 3 in mercury emissions would help policy makers, sci- 4 entists, and the public to better understand the 5 sources, consequences, and trends of mercury pollu- 6 tion in the United States. 7 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 8 In this Act: 9 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis- 10 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ- 11 mental Protection Agency. 12 (2) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The term ‘‘Advi- 13 sory Committee’’ means the Mercury Monitoring Ad- 14 visory Committee established under section 5(a). 15 (3) ANCILLARY MEASURE.—The term ‘‘ancillary 16 measure’’ means a measure that is used to under- 17 stand the impact and interpret results of measure- 18 ments under the program. 19 (4) ECOREGION.—The term ‘‘ecoregion’’ means 20 a large area of land and water that contains a geo- 21 graphically distinct assemblage of natural commu- 22 nities, including similar land forms, climate, ecologi- 23 cal processes, and vegetation. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 181 IS (5) MERCURY EXPORT.—The term ‘‘mercury 1 export’’ means mercury transport from a watershed 2 to the corresponding body of water, or from 1 body 3 of water to another body of water (such as from a 4 lake to a river), generally expressed as— 5 (A) mass per unit of time; or 6 (B) mass per unit of watershed or body of 7 water area per unit of time. 8 (6) MERCURY FLUX.—The term ‘‘mercury flux’’ 9 means the rate of transfer of mercury between eco- 10 system components (such as between water and air 11 or land and air) or between portions of ecosystem 12 components, expressed in terms of— 13 (A) mass per unit of time; or 14 (B) mass per unit of area of land or water 15 per unit of time. 16 (7) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 17 the national mercury monitoring program estab- 18 lished under section 4(a). 19 (8) SURFACE SEDIMENT.—The term ‘‘surface 20 sediment’’ means sediment in the uppermost 2 centi- 21 meters of a lakebed, riverbed, estuary, or coastal 22 area. 23 SEC. 4. MONITORING PROGRAM. 24 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 181 IS (1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator, in con- 1 sultation with the Director of the United States Fish 2 and Wildlife Service, the Director of the United 3 States Geological Survey, the Director of the Na- 4 tional Park Service, the Administrator of the Na- 5 tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and 6 the heads of other appropriate Federal agencies, 7 shall establish a national mercury monitoring pro- 8 gram. 9 (2) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the program is 10 to track— 11 (A) long-term trends in atmospheric mer- 12 cury concentrations and deposition; and 13 (B) mercury levels in watersheds, surface 14 water, and fish and wildlife in terrestrial, fresh- 15 water, coastal, and marine ecosystems in re- 16 sponse to changing mercury emissions over 17 time. 18 (3) MONITORING SITES.— 19 (A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out para- 20 graph (1), not later than 1 year after the date 21 of enactment of this Act and in coordination 22 with the Advisory Committee, the Adminis- 23 trator shall select multiple monitoring sites rep- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 181 IS resenting multiple ecoregions and associated 1 coastal waters of the United States. 2 (B) LOCATIONS.—Locations of monitoring 3 sites shall include— 4 (i) units of the National Park System; 5 (ii) units of the National Wildlife Ref- 6 uge System; 7 (iii) units of the National Estuarine 8 Research Reserve System; and 9 (iv) sensitive ecological areas in which 10 substantive changes are expected from re- 11 ductions in domestic mercury emissions. 12 (C) COLOCATION.—Monitoring sites shall 13 be colocated with sites from other long-term en- 14 vironmental monitoring programs, where prac- 15 ticable, including sites associated with the Na- 16 tional Ecological Observatory Network, the 17 Long Term Ecological Research Network, and 18 the National Atmospheric Deposition Program. 19 (D) MONITORING PROTOCOLS.—Not later 20 than 1 year after the date of enactment of this 21 Act, the Administrator, in coordination with the 22 Advisory Committee, shall establish and publish 23 standardized measurement protocols for the 24 program. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 181 IS (4) INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION.—To the 1 maximum extent practicable, the program shall be 2 compatible with similar international efforts, includ- 3 ing the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Pro- 4 gramme, the Global Earth Observation System of 5 Systems, and the monitoring associated with the ef- 6 fectiveness evaluation of the Minamata Convention 7 on Mercury, adopted October 10, 2013 (TIAS 17– 8 816), which entered into force on August 16, 2017. 9 (5) DATA COLLECTION AND DISTRIBUTION.— 10 Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment 11 of this Act, the Administrator, in coordination with 12 the Advisory Committee, shall establish— 13 (A) a centralized database for existing and 14 newly collected environmental mercury data 15 that can be freely accessed on the Internet; and 16 (B) assurance and quality standards for 17 the database under subparagraph (A). 18 (b) FUNCTIONS.— 19 (1) IN GENERAL.—Under the program, the Ad- 20 ministrator, in consultation with the appropriate 21 Federal agencies and the Advisory Committee, shall 22 at a minimum carry out monitoring described in 23 paragraphs (2) through (4) at the locations selected 24 under subsection (a)(3). 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 181 IS (2) AIR AND WATERSHEDS.—The program, in 1 association with the National Atmospheric Deposi- 2 tion Program, shall monitor long-term changes in 3 mercury levels and important ancillary measures in 4 the air, including— 5 (A) the measurement and recording of wet 6 mercury deposition; 7 (B) an estimation of— 8 (i) dry mercury deposition (such as 9 litter mercury deposition); 10 (ii) mercury flux; and 11 (iii) mercury export; and 12 (C) the measurement of mercury isotopes 13 and ancillary measurements to fully understand 14 the transport, cycling, and transformations of 15 mercury through ecosystems. 16 (3) WATER AND SOIL CHEMISTRY.—The pro- 17 gram, in association with the WaterWatch Program 18 established by the United States Geological Survey, 19 shall monitor long-term changes in mercury and 20 methyl mercury levels and important ancillary meas- 21 ures in the water and soil or sediments, including— 22 (A) extraction and analysis of soil and 23 sediment cores; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 181 IS (B) measurement and recording of total 1 mercury and methyl mercury concentration in 2 surface sediments; and 3 (C) measurement and recording of total 4 mercury and methyl mercury concentration in 5 surface waters. 6 (4) AQUATIC AND TERRESTRIAL ORGANISMS.— 7 The program, in association with the United States 8 Fish and Wildlife Service and the Inventory and 9 Monitoring Division of the National Park Service, 10 shall monitor long-term changes in mercury and 11 methyl mercury levels and important ancillary meas- 12 ures in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial orga- 13 nisms, including— 14 (A) measurement and recording of total 15 mercury and methyl mercury concentrations 16 in— 17 (i) invertebrates; 18 (ii) yearling or lower trophic level fish; 19 and 20 (iii) commercially, recreationally, or 21 conservation relevant fish; and 22 (B) measurement and recording of total 23 mercury concentrations in— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 181 IS (i) selected insect- and fish-eating 1 birds; and 2 (ii) selected insect- and fish-eating 3 mammals. 4 SEC. 5. ADVISORY COMMITTEE. 5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator, in con- 6 sultation with the Director of the United States Fish and 7 Wildlife Service, the Director of the United States Geo- 8 logical Survey, the Director of the National Park Service, 9 the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmos- 10 pheric Administration, and the heads of other appropriate 11 Federal agencies, shall establish a scientific advisory com- 12 mittee, to be known as the ‘‘Mercury Monitoring Advisory 13 Committee’’, to advise the Administrator and those Fed- 14 eral agencies on the establishment, site selection, measure- 15 ment, recording protocols, and operation of the program. 16 (b) MEMBERSHIP.—The Advisory Committee shall 17 consist of scientists who are not employees of the Federal 18 Government, including— 19 (1) 3 scientists appointed by the Administrator; 20 (2) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 21 United States Fish and Wildlife Service; 22 (3) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 23 United States Geological Survey; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 181 IS (4) 2 scientists appointed by the Director of the 1 National Park Service; and 2 (5) 2 scientists appointed by the Administrator 3 of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis- 4 tration. 5 SEC. 6. REPORTS AND PUBLIC DISCLOSURE. 6 (a) REPORTS.—Not later than 2 years after the date 7 of enactment of this Act and every 2 years thereafter, the 8 Administrator shall submit to Congress a report on the 9 program, including data on relevant temporal trends and 10 spatial gradients in mercury contamination in the environ- 11 ment. 12 (b) ASSESSMENT.—Not less frequently than once 13 every 4 years, the report required under subsection (a) 14 shall include an assessment of mercury deposition rates 15 that need to be achieved in order to prevent adverse 16 human and ecological effects. 17 (c) AVAILABILITY OF DATA.—The Administrator 18 shall make all data obtained under this Act available to 19 the public through a dedicated website and on written re- 20 quest. 21 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 22 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 23 this Act— 24 (1) $37,000,000 for fiscal year 2020; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 181 IS (2) $29,000,000 for fiscal year 2021; and 1 (3) $29,000,000 for fiscal year 2022. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:16 Jan 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S181.IS S181 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS