Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in Senate · Jul 9, 2009
Mercury Pollution Reduction Act - Declares that is the policy of the United States 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 a mercury cell; and (2) the export of any mercury, mercury cell, mercury compound, or mixture containing mercury by the owner or operator of a chlor-alkali facility.
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.
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
Read full official summaryShow less
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 the Administrator determines to be necessary to determine the magnitude and nature of mercury releases from the facility into air and other environmental media.
Source last updated: Sep 8, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Explore the bill from different angles
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.
Neutral evidence review
Objective
Analyze S.1428 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.
View full prompt & sources
Fairness and public impact
Progressive lens
Examine S.1428 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.
View full prompt & sources
Institutions and government scope
Conservative lens
Examine S.1428 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.
View full prompt & sources
Individual rights and government power
Liberty lens
Examine S.1428 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.