Mercury Pollution Reduction Act - 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 at any facility in the United States; and (2) the export of any elemental mercury or the sale of elemental mercury for purposes of export, including compounds and mixtures containing elemental mercury, by the owner or operator of a chlor-alkali facility.
Requires the owner or operator of any existing chlor-alkali facility to notify the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) no later than June 30, 2012, on whether the owner or operator will replace its chlor-alkali facility with a new manufacturing facility that does not use mercury or cease operations. Requires a chlor-alkali facility for which a closure notice is filed to cease manufacturing chlorine or caustic soda using mercury cells no later than June 30, 2013. Authorizes a chlor-alkali facility for which a replacement notice is filed to continue to manufacture chlorine or caustic soda using mercury cells until all of the permitting, financing, engineering, and construction of a non-mercury replacement facility is complete or June 30, 2015, whichever is earlier.
Provides that this Act does not affect the ability of the owner or operator of any chlor-alkali facility to store elemental mercury in accordance with the Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008.
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