The Coastal Zone Act of 1971 outlaws new industry "incompatible with the protection of the natural environment" of shore areas, but in 1979 the act was amended to permit offshore oil drilling and the construction of coastal oil facilities. The traffic of oil tankers into the Delaware Bay represents an environmental hazard.
In 1982, Delaware enacted a bottle law requiring deposits on most soda and beer bottles; deposits for aluminum cans were made mandatory in 1984. In that year, Delaware became the first state to administer the national hazardous waste program at the state level. The state's municipal governments have constructed three municipal land fills to handle the solid waste produced by the state's 670,000 residents. In 2003, the Environmental Protection Agency's database listed 64 hazardous waste sites, 15 of which were on the National Priorities List, in Delaware.
State environmental protection agencies include the Department of natural resources and Environmental Control, Coastal Zone Industrial Control Board, and Council on Soil and Water Conservation. In 2001, Delaware received $26,356,000 in federal grants from the EPA; EPA expenditures for procurement contracts in Delaware that year amounted to $3,153,000.