©2026 League of Conservation Voters
1982 Scorecard Vote
148
183
101
Gramm (D-TX) amendment to exempt businesses which generate, store or transport relatively small quantities of hazardous waste from the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA, H.R. 6307). Although each such business may produce only a small amount, taken together they are responsible for 8% of the nation’s deadly toxic wastes. RCRA is the nation’s principal law governing the management and disposal of these wastes, and was designed to avoid the creation of additional abandoned toxic dumps like Love Canal. In 1982 the House amended RCRA to close some loopholes in the law, loopholes that, for example, enabled companies to dump toxic levels of dioxin along roadsides. Another loophole is the current exemption from any hazardous waste regulation for small businesses, but exempted only those companies dealing with tiny quantities of toxic waste. The Gramm Amendment would have simply perpetuated the existing loophole in the law. Amendment rejected 148-183; September 8, 1982. NO is the pro-environmental vote. (Changes in RCRA were not considered in the Senate, but are expected to come up again in Congress in 1983.)
©2026 League of Conservation Voters