109th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 6261
To provide for the protection of public health and the environment
from mercury contamination associated with the shipment of elemental mercury
or with mercury-bearing solid waste, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
September 29, 2006
Mr. GUTKNECHT (for himself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BURTON of Indiana, and Ms.
WATSON) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee
on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To provide for the protection of public health and the environment
from mercury contamination associated with the shipment of elemental mercury
or with mercury-bearing solid waste, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Mercury Reclamation Act of 2006'.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Mercury is a naturally occurring element that is found in air, water
and soil. It is a bioaccumulative toxin that is easily absorbed through
skin and respiratory and gastrointestinal tissues.
(2) Communities across the country have been victims of accidental and
intentional releases of elemental mercury in schools and other public
and private buildings, exposing citizens to harmful mercury vapors and
costing millions of dollars in property damage and remediation costs.
(3) Mercury deposition is a significant public health threat in many States
throughout the United States.
(4) According to a report by the National Academy of Sciences, over 60,000
children are born each year in the United States at risk for adverse neurodevelopmental
effects due to exposure to methyl mercury in utero.
(5) Current Federal hazardous waste regulations allow land disposal of
certain highly contaminated mercury wastes without treatment to remove
the mercury, despite Environmental Protection Agency-sponsored studies
concluding that such disposal practices are not sufficiently protective
of human health and the environment.
(6) According to the Government Accountability Office, in 2003 over 26,000,000
pounds of mercury wastes disposed of in landfills were not required to
meet treatment standards promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency
for the safe mercury disposal.
(7) According to the Government Accountability Office, the Environmental
Protection Agency does not know how millions of pounds of mercury wastes
are treated prior to land disposal and cannot be certain that businesses
are properly managing their mercury contaminated wastes.
(8) The Government Accountability Office determined that many states and
landfill operators are misidentifying highly contaminated mercury wastes
as `debris', which allows these wastes to be landfilled without testing
or mercury reclamation as the law envisioned.
(9) Current Federal laws and regulations do not provide the information
necessary for regulators or the public to accurately track mercury-containing
items from generation to disposal.
(10) Mercury is released to the environment when mercury-containing products
are discarded in landfills and broken in the waste stream, polluting our
water and threatening the health of workers and others exposed to mercury
vapors from these releases.
(11) While mercury-containing wastes must be properly managed and recycled
whenever possible, the energy conservation benefits of using mercury-based
compact fluorescent lighting are highly significant.
(12) Use of fluorescent lamps creates a net environmental benefit, reducing
mercury emissions by lowering energy demands on power plants burning fossil
fuels to generate electricity.
(13) Less than twenty-five percent of mercury-containing lamps disposed
of each year are recycled, leading to the release of mercury from over
one-half billion lamps broken in solid waste without any mercury recovery.
(14) A study by a major retailer finds that changing 100 million light
bulbs to compact fluorescent lights would: save $3 billion in energy costs,
keep 45 billion pounds of greenhouse gases from reaching the atmosphere,
and would eliminate the need for 1.3 coal-fired power plants.
(15) The Federal government should develop specific programs to increase
the collection and recycling of mercury-containing lighting devices, particularly
from consumers and small businesses. By stimulating the nation's ability
to collect and recycle mercury-containing lighting devices, the Federal
government will achieve the dual goals of energy conservation and environmental
protection.
(16) Current Federal laws and regulations allow many discarded mercury
items to escape regulation due to inadequate mercury testing methods and
loopholes allowing significant amounts of waste to be improperly disposed
of as solid waste without mercury recovery and other environmental protections.
(17) Improved tracking of mercury-containing wastes is critical to ensure
that mercury is reclaimed from mercury wastes whenever feasible.
SEC. 3. MERCURY WASTE PACKAGING, TRACKING AND STORAGE.
(a) Amendment of Solid Waste Disposal Act- Subtitle D of the Solid Waste
Disposal Act is amended by adding the following new section at the end thereof:
`SEC. 4011. MERCURY WASTE PACKAGING, TRACKING AND STORAGE.
`(a) Regulations- The Administrator, in cooperation with the Secretary of
Transportation, shall review the storage, transportation, tracking and packaging
requirements of their respective departments and agencies as they pertain
to mercury-bearing solid waste, as defined in section 1004(27) of this Act,
including those wastes which qualify as hazardous wastes under this Act,
and shall promulgate, within 18-month of enactment of the Mercury Reclamation
Act of 2006, regulations to protect public health and the environment governing
the tracking, storage, packaging, record keeping, and reporting on the shipments
of mercury-bearing waste. Such regulations shall address any deficiencies
in the current regulations of the Administrator and of the Secretary of
Transportation governing the transportation, storage, and packaging of mercury-bearing
wastes and intact, defective or broken mercury-containing products.
`(b) Tracking- The regulations under this section shall ensure the ability
of regulators and the public to track the generation, treatment, and disposal
of mercury wastes and require accountability for both waste generators and
treatment, storage, and disposal facilities to properly identify and document
mercury wastes and comply with the proper treatment and disposal requirements
for such wastes.
`(1) The regulations promulgated under this paragraph shall include, but
not be limited to, promulgation of regulations necessary to ensure the
ability of regulators and the public to track the generation, treatment
and disposal of devices which contain mercury integral to their function
and ensure that such devices are properly treated prior to disposal.
`(2) In the case of mercury-bearing waste subject to section 3004(m),
tracking requirements shall include a statement of whether the shipment
is intended to be treated to reclaim the mercury, and a statement of justification
in the event the mercury contained in the waste is not being reclaimed.
`(3) Tracking standards established pursuant to this section for widely
generated wastes, as determined by the Administrator, shall be implemented
in a manner that improves the ability of regulators and the public to
track the generation, treatment and disposal of such wastes while avoiding
placing undue burdens on the collection and transportation of such wastes
that would discourage the proper collection and treatment of such wastes.
`(c) Packaging Standards- Based upon the review of the current packaging
standards for mercury-bearing waste shipments of the Department of Transportation
and the Environmental Protection Agency, the Administrator shall promulgate
such additional standards as may be necessary to protect public health and
the environment. Such regulations shall be structured so as to prevent the
release of mercury and mercury vapor during the transportation and storage
of mercury bearing wastes
`(d) Households- The tracking and packaging standards under this section
shall not apply to wastes generated by households, as defined by the Administrator
under this Act, until such wastes are received by a treatment, storage or
disposal facility.
`(e) Enforcement- The provisions of subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section
3008 shall apply to violations of subsection (a) of this section in the
same manner and to the same extent as such provisions apply to violations
of subtitle C.'.
(b) Table of Contents- The table of contents for such subtitle D is amended
by adding the following new item at the end thereof:
`Sec. 4012. Mercury waste packaging, tracking and storage.'.
SEC. 4. DEVICES CONTAINING MERCURY.
(a) In General- The Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 and following)
is amended by adding the following new section at the end of subtitle D:
`SEC. 4012. MERCURY DEVICE RECYCLING.
`(a) In General- Effective 60 days following enactment of this section,
each person who generates any solid waste which consists of a device that
contains mercury integral to its function, including but not limited to
mercury added lighting, shall
`(1) take such steps as may be necessary to insure that such solid waste
is treated as necessary to reclaim the mercury, or
`(2) transfer such solid waste to another person who has accepted responsibility
for such reclamation.
The Administrator shall promulgate such regulations as may be necessary
to carry out this subsection.
`(b) Household and Small Generator Exemption-
`(1) The requirements of subsection (a) shall not apply to any of the
following categories of solid waste:
`(A) Solid waste from households, as defined by the Administrator under
this Act.
`(B) Solid waste generated by a person who generates during a calendar
month not more than 15 items to which subsection (a) would otherwise
apply so long as the mercury contained in the items generated in a calendar
month does not exceed one half ounce of mercury.
`(2) The Administrator shall develop a voluntary compliance program to
maximize the collection of mercury containing items that qualify for the
exemption under paragraph (1) of this subsection, particularly those programs
involving the take back of spent mercury lamps at the point-of-sale.
`(3) Nothing in this subsection shall affect the authority of any State
or local government to provide for the reclamation of solid waste containing
mercury.
`(c) State Programs- Any State may notify the Administrator that the State
has adopted a program providing for the reclamation of mercury from solid
waste referred to in subsection (a). Upon receipt and acceptance of such
notification, compliance with the requirements of the State program, as
long as it remains in full force and effect, shall constitute compliance
with the requirement of subsection (a).
`(d) Enforcement- The provisions of subsections (a), (b), and (c) of section
3008 shall apply to violations of subsection (a) of this section in the
same manner and to the same extent as such provisions apply to violations
of subtitle C.'.
(b) Clerical Amendment- The table of contents for such subtitle D is amended
by adding the following new item at the end thereof:
`Sec. 4012. Mercury device recycling.'.
(c) Reevaluation of Small Generator Exemption- Consistent with section 3001(d)(4)
of the Solid Waste Disposal Act regarding small quantity generators, the
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency shall assess and re-evaluate
whether the current 100 kg/month exemption for small quantity generators
generally, is protective of public health and the environment as it pertains
to generators of mercury-containing wastes.
SEC. 5. REQUIRING MERCURY RECLAMATION FROM HAZARDOUS MERCURY WASTES.
Section 3004(m) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6924(m)) is amended
by adding at the end the following new paragraph:
`(3) Effective 30 days after the date of enactment of this paragraph,
the treatment standards applicable to all hazardous waste containing mercury
in concentrations equal to or exceeding 260 mg/kg shall require the recovery
of mercury from such waste prior to land disposal using a technology approved
by the Administrator for such wastes under regulations issued pursuant
to this subtitle. The Administrator may, consistent with the protection
of human health and the environment--
`(A) limit the organic content of such waste that may be subjected to
mercury recovery technologies;
`(B) limit the use of mercury recovery technologies for radioactive
wastes;
`(C) issue, by regulation, variances and exceptions to the required
use of mercury recovery technologies, based on feasibility of mercury
recovery; and
`(D) revise such treatment standards to incorporate the capabilities
of the most advanced available mercury recovery technologies.'.
SEC. 6. FUNDING FOR MERCURY PROGRAMS.
Section 2007 of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (42 U.S.C. 6941 and following)
is amended by adding the following new subsection at the end thereof:
`(g) Funding for Mercury Programs- There is authorized to be appropriated
to the Administrator to award contracts, grants and other funding assistance
needed to perform the following tasks (including coordination with the mercury
product manufacturing industry, the mercury recycling industry, non-profit
organizations, and the States) not more than $50,000,000 for each fiscal
year after the enactment of the Mercury Reclamation Act of 2006:
`(1) Preparing an inventory of the legitimate uses of mercury in commercial,
industrial, consumer, and medical applications, and the uses of mercury
exported from the United States.
`(2) Promoting the recovery of mercury from waste materials.
`(3) Enforcement of Federal regulations for the management of mercury
wastes under section 4012 and making grants to States for carrying out
State regulatory programs under section 4012.
`(4) Promoting the establishment of mercury lamp take back programs at
the point-of-sale to assist consumers and small businesses in the reclamation
of spent mercury lamps and devices.'.
SEC. 7. ANNUAL REPORT.
Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually
thereafter, the Administrator shall transmit to the Congress a report on
the progress made under this Act. Such report shall include at minimum each
of the following:
(1) A progress summary of any regulatory actions taken in response to
the review under section 4011(a) of the Solid Waste Disposal Act.
(2) A progress summary of mercury device recycling efforts relating to
this Act, including a quantitative analysis of the amount of mercury recycled.
(3) A description of grants and amounts awarded under section 2007(g)
of the Solid Waste Disposal Act and of the criteria used for awarding
those grants.
(4) A detailed financial reporting of total administration costs of carrying
out this Act.
(5) A joint summary, by the Administrator and appropriate State officials,
that describes the coordination and communication progress and problems
between the Federal and State Governments in carrying out this Act.
(6) Recommendations for greater efficiency or improvement of administration
of this Act.
END
