We continue our survey of the legislative history of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, or CERCLA.

By June of 1979, the debate about a potential Superfund law was getting bogged down in committee hearings and congressional debates, with no clear direction of which way to turn.

The Carter Administration, in a desperate attempt to get legislation considered, requested the introduction of Senate Bill 1341, the Oil, Hazardous Substances, and Hazardous WasteResponse, Liability, and Compensation Act of 1979.

The bill did little to reconcile the interests and requirements of environmentalists, state lawmakers, victims of toxic waste, and the chemical industry, but it sparked an array of other legislation that would eventually be amended and combined to become CERCLA.