In 1976, Congress enacted the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act as the nation's most comprehensive law controlling waste-disposal. Although nuclear weapons plants and military bases are among the nation's worst polluters, they claim immunity from the 1976 law. Environmentalists, backed by the Environmental Protection Agency, have long disputed this lack of accountability.

The Federal Facilities Compliance Act (S. 596), introduced by Majority Leader George Mitchell (D-ME), would end this immunity. The bill would allow EPA to impose administrative orders and monetary penalties on those federal agencies which fail to comply with all federal, state, interstate, and local solid and hazardous waste management and disposal requirements.

Although the Act passed overwhelmingly in the Senate, in order to avoid a filibuster, it was significantly weakened by the time it reached the floor. Therefore, the League has counted co-sponsorship of the original strong version of the bill as a pro-environment position. There were 53 co-sponsors of S. 596.