296 The Environmental Debate
Community of Love Canal, near Niagara, New York, evacuated because of pres-
ence of toxic wastes.
California introduces first building code requiring energy efficiency.
1979 Toxic chemical dumping practices of the Hooker-Occidental Chemicals Plant in
Lathrop, California, become a public issue.
Partial meltdown of nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island, near Harrisburg, Pennsylva-
nia.
International Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP)
(Geneva Convention).
1980 Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CER-
CLA) (Superfund Act) deals with the release of hazardous substances caused by
spills or from abandoned dump sites and provides funds for cleanup of dump
sites.
Energy Security Act, comprising seven acts: U.S. Synthetic Fuels Corporation Act,
Biomass Energy and Alcohol Fuels Act, Renewable Energy Resources Act, Solar
Energy and Energy Conservation Act, Solar Energy and Conservation Bank Act,
Geothermal Energy Act, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Act.
Alaska National Interests Lands Act adds 103 million acres of park refuge and
wilderness areas to U.S. protected land holdings.
Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships.
National Acid Precipitation Program begun.
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry established within the Public
Health Service.
U.S.-Canada Memorandum of Intent on Transboundary Air Pollution.
1981 Coastal Barrier Resources Act.
1982 World Resources Institute established, with headquarters in Washington, D.C.
United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) governing ocean
use and the exploitation of ocean resources. Not ratified by U.S. Senate.
1983 Iowa Enacts nation’s first renewable energy standard (RES).
1984 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) attempts to make provision for
the safe treatment and disposal of hazardous waste. It is the major federal law
regulating solid waste disposal by municipalities.
Toxic gas from a plant owned by Union Carbide, an American company, kills
more than 2,000 people in Bhopal, India.
1985 Swampbuster Provision of the Food Security Act (Farm Bill) discourages farmers
from using converted wetlands for food production.
Federal Conservation Reserve Program established to remove environmentally
sensitive farmland from agricultural production.