In this episode, we take a look at the first years of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980, and its implementation by the Reagan Administration.

While several court cases in the early 1980s served to authorize and strengthen the statutes of CERCLA and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, both regulatory programs experienced major cuts and roll backs under EPA Administrator Anne Gorsuch.

Those cuts were but a fraction of ongoing government deregulation and defunding under Reagan. However, following months of congressional hearings, mismanagement of the EPA under Gorsuch became clear, and she, along with several dozen fellow EPA officials resigned, ushering in new leadership who refocused the agency's directives and regulatory enforcement.