The Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA),¹ the Superfund legislation, makes no provision for the recovery of damages for personal injuries and property damage resulting from exposure to hazardous wastes, although there was frequent reference to such individual injuries in the course of its legislative history. Earlier bills had indeed provided for such recoveries, including major recoveries for the medical costs of injury, but the Congress during the closing part of the 96th Congress, the "lame duck" session following the November 1980 election, decided not to address this difficult problem. Instead, Congress in §301(e) of CERCLA provided for the creation of a Study Group to deal with this contentious issue. It is clear from the provisions of §301(e) that Congress was well-aware of the difficulties likely to be encountered in private lawsuits for hazardous waste injuries.

The United States Department of Justice requested the four designated organizations to appoint members who were to compose the Study Group. The final composition of the Group indicates that no easy consensus was sought. Congress had intended to reflect a variety of interests in the Study Group, and in fact, differing views and sharp dissensions on policy characterized many of the Group's deliberations.