時差N小時:有毒物質(zhì)控制法案

In 1971, the President's Council on EnvironmentalQuality issued a report titled “Toxic Substances”. Itpointed to a sharp increase in the amount ofpotentially-dangerous chemicals entering theenvironment — from manufacturing andprocesssing — and a lack of government controls. YetCongressional action would take some time.

1971年，總統(tǒng)的環(huán)境質(zhì)量委員會發(fā)表了一篇題為“有毒物質(zhì)”的報告。這篇報告指出：加工業(yè)和制造業(yè)向環(huán)境排放有潛在危險的化學(xué)物，排放數(shù)量急劇增加，卻不受政府管控。然而，國會要采取行動還需一段時日。

The House and Senate each passed bills the next year to control toxic substances. But finalaction was delayed — by controversies over the scope of chemical screening and the costs ofimplementation. Proposed legislation required significant new regulation of the chemicalindustry —so, its main provisions would be hotly-debated for the next several years, by all theinterested parties.

次年美眾議院與參議院各自通過了控制有毒物質(zhì)的法案。然而，由于在化學(xué)物的范圍篩選和執(zhí)行成本上存在爭議，所以最終決議被推遲。這次新提議的立法要求對化工業(yè)實行意義重大的新的監(jiān)管。因此在未來幾年，相關(guān)利益團體會就其主要條款展開激烈的辯論。

As the debate continued, several highly-publicized incidents of environmental contaminationoccurred, and scientific knowledge helped to clarify the threat of PCBs to waterways and theimpact of chlorofluorocarbon emissions on ozone depletion.

爭論還在持續(xù)的時候，相繼發(fā)生了幾起廣為報道的環(huán)境污染事件，通過科學(xué)的方法才消除了多氯聯(lián)苯流向河道所帶來的威脅，以及排放含氯氟烴造成臭氧層空洞帶來的影響。

More exact cost-estimates also helped to clear the final passage of the Toxic Substances ControlAct, which was signed into law by President Ford on October 11, 1976. This act enabled the EPAto create a list of all chemicals used in manufacturing. The first version of this list — complied in1979 — listed over 55,000 chemicals used in commerce. Today, that list of chemicals isestimated to be approaching 1 million.

其它具體的經(jīng)費預(yù)算也為《有毒物質(zhì)控制法案》的最終通過掃清了障礙。這條法案于1976年10月11日被福特總統(tǒng)簽署成為法律。法案授權(quán)環(huán)境保護局列出用于工業(yè)生產(chǎn)的化學(xué)物。清單的第一個版本在1979年生效，其中列出了超過五萬五千種用于商業(yè)的化學(xué)物質(zhì)。如今，清單上大約列出了將近100萬種化學(xué)物質(zhì)。