To address further mercury use and pollution, the Community Strategy concerning Mercury was adopted in 2005 and reviewed in 2010. It focuses, in particular, on mercury emissions to air, on banning export of mercury and of certain mercury compounds and on restrictions on mercury-added products and industrial processes using mercury. As a long-range payday loans online pollutant, mercury can affect areas located thousands of kilometers away from the sources of emissions.

Accordingly, the EU has also endeavoured to address the global challenges posed by mercury, hence dedicating 7 of the actions foreseen in the Community Strategy concerning Mercury on measures to be implemented on the international level.

Considerable progress has been made in this respect. Spearheaded by UNEP, the United Nations Environment Programme, an international negotiation process resulted in the signing by 127 countries and the Union of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, named after the Japanese town where the worst ever case payday loans online mercury pollution happened in the years 1950.

To allow the EU to implement and ratify the Minamata Convention, the European Commission adopted on 2 February 2016 a Minamata ratification package including proposed legislation to update EU law where needed to fully conform with the Convention. On 18 May 2017, the EU together with several Member States ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury, thereby triggering its entry into force. Payday loans online information: press release and questions and answers.

For technical information contact: Thomas Groeneveld, National Program Chemicals Division, Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave.

For general information contact: The TSCA-Hotline, ABVI-Goodwill, 422 South Clinton Ave. You may be potentially affected by this action if you manufacture (including import) mercury or mercury-added products, or if you otherwise intentionally use mercury in a manufacturing process.

The following list of North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS) codes is not intended to be exhaustive, but rather provides a guide to help readers determine whether this document applies to them.

This proposed rule would require reporting from any person who manufactures (including imports) mercury or mercury-added products, or otherwise intentionally uses mercury in payday loans online manufacturing process. EPA published its initial inventory report in the Federal Register on March 29, 2017 (Ref.

In addition, this information could be used by the U. Government to assist in its national reporting regarding its implementation of the Minamata Start Printed Page 49566Convention on Mercury (Minamata Convention), to which the United States is a Party (Ref.

The Minamata Convention is an international environmental agreement that has as its objective the protection of human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of elemental mercury and mercury compounds.

Article 21 of the Convention requires Parties to include in their national reports, among other information, information demonstrating that the Party has met the requirements of Article 3 on Mercury Supply Sources and Trade and of Article 5 on Manufacturing Processes in Which Mercury or Mercury Compounds Are Used. As proposed, the reporting requirements of the proposed rule will further enhance the understanding of the use of mercury in the United States, in particular with respect to mercury supply sources and trade, mercury-added products, and manufacturing processes, thus providing a body of information that will assist the United States in its implementation of the reporting requirements of the Minamata Convention.

EPA intends to use the collected information to implement TSCA and shape the Agency's efforts to reduce the use of mercury in commerce. In so doing, the Agency would conduct a timely evaluation and refinement of these reporting requirements so that they are efficient and non-duplicative for reporters.

EPA is proposing that supply, use, and trade of mercury include reporting requirements for activities comparable to established TSCA terms: Manufacture, import, distribution in commerce, storage, and export. The reporting requirements also would apply to otherwise intentional use of mercury in a manufacturing process. Persons who manufacture (including import) mercury or mercury-added products, or otherwise intentionally use mercury in a manufacturing process, would report amounts of mercury in pounds (lbs.

Reporters also would identify specific mercury compounds, mercury-added products, manufacturing processes, and how mercury is used in manufacturing processes, as applicable, from pre-selected lists. For certain activities, reporters would provide additional, contextual data (e. The proposed reporting requirements would not apply to persons engaged in the generation, handling, or management of mercury-containing waste, unless that person manufactures or recovers mercury in the management of that waste with the intent to use the recovered mercury or store it for use.

In addition, persons engaged in trade (e. Finally, in an effort to avoid reporting that is unnecessary or duplicative, the Agency is proposing certain exemptions for persons who already report for mercury and mercury-added products to the TSCA section 8(a) Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule and the Interstate Mercury Education and Reduction Clearinghouse (IMERC).

In addition to topics where EPA notes that we are seeking specific comment, the Agency also encourages comment on all aspects of this proposal. EPA is issuing a proposed rule under TSCA section 8(b)(10) to require reporting to assist in the preparation of the statutorily-required inventory of mercury supply, use, and trade in the United States.

After the publication of its initial inventory report in the Federal Register on March 29, 2017 (Ref. TSCA section 8(b)(10)(D) requires EPA to promulgate a final rule by June 22, 2018 that establishes reporting requirements applicable to any person who manufactures mercury or mercury-added products or otherwise intentionally uses mercury in a manufacturing process to assist in the preparation of the inventory (15 U.

Section 2 of TSCA expresses the intent of Congress that EPA carry out TSCA in a reasonable and prudent manner, and in consideration of the impacts that any action taken under TSCA may have on the environment, the economy, and society (15 U. EPA is proposing to manage and leverage its information resources, including information technology, to require the use of electronic reporting in order to implement the mercury inventory reporting requirements of TSCA section 8(b)(10)(D) in a reasonable and prudent manner.

EPA has prepared an economic analysis of the potential impacts associated with this rulemaking (Ref. The chief benefit of the proposed rule is the collection of detailed data on mercury, which will serve as a basis to recommend actions to further reduce mercury use in the United States, as required at TSCA section 8(b)(10)(C). Another benefit is the use of information collected under the proposed rule to help the United States implement its obligations under the Minamata Convention.

There are no quantified benefits for the proposed rule. The statutory mandate specifically calls for and authorizes a rule to support an inventory of mercury supply, use, and trade in the United States, in order to identify any manufacturing processes or products that intentionally add mercury and recommend actions to achieve further reductions in mercury use.

As described in the Agency's economic analysis, unquantified Start Printed Page 49567benefits include providing increased information on mercury pay day loan and assisting in the reduction of mercury use (Ref. To the extent that the information gathered through this rule is used to reduce mercury use, benefits to society will result from a reduction in exposure.

EPA seeks public comment on all aspects of the economic analysis.