PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Apr 23, 2009
Mercury Pollution Reduction Act of 2009 - Declares that the United States should develop policies and programs that will reduce: (1) mercury use and emissions; (2) mercury releases from the reservoir of mercury currently in use or circulation; and (3) exposures to mercury, particularly of women of childbearing age and young children.
Amends the Toxic Substances Control Act to prohibit: (1) the manufacture of chlorine or caustic soda using mercury cells; and (2) the export of any mercury, mercury cells, mercury compounds, and mixtures containing mercury.
Requires the Secretary of Energy to develop a system for the storage of all mercury, mercury cells, mercury compounds, and mixtures containing mercury from a chlor-alkali facility.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Requires the owner or operator of each chlor-alkali facility to report to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator and the state in which the facility is located on mercury waste, emissions, and content in products.
Requires the Administrator to: (1) conduct a comprehensive mercury inventory covering the life and closure of chlor-alkali facilities that cease operations on or after January 1, 2009; and (2) obtain mercury purchase records and such other information from each such facility as are necessary to determine the magnitude and nature of mercury releases from the facility into air and other environmental media.
People & committees
Rep. Schakowsky, Janice D. [D-IL-9] · D–IL
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Jan 10, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.2065 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.2065 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.2065 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.2065 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.