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，总统的环境质量委员会发表了一篇题为“有毒物质”的报告。这篇报告指出：加工业和制造业向环境排放有潜在危险的化学物，排放数量急剧增加，却不受政府管控。然而，国会要采取行动还需一段时日。

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.

次年美众议院与参议院各自通过了控制有毒物质的法案。然而，由于在化学物的范围筛选和执行成本上存在争议，所以最终决议被推迟。这次新提议的立法要求对化工业实行意义重大的新的监管。因此在未来几年，相关利益团体会就其主要条款展开激烈的辩论。

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.

争论还在持续的时候，相继发生了几起广为报道的环境污染事件，通过科学的方法才消除了多氯联苯流向河道所带来的威胁，以及排放含氯氟烃造成臭氧层空洞带来的影响。

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.

其它具体的经费预算也为《有毒物质控制法案》的最终通过扫清了障碍。这条法案于1976年10月11日被福特总统签署成为法律。法案授权环境保护局列出用于工业生产的化学物。清单的第一个版本在1979年生效，其中列出了超过五万五千种用于商业的化学物质。如今，清单上大约列出了将近100万种化学物质。