2020

HomeWashington Letter2020 ▶ EPA Issues Cost/Benefit Rule that Ignores Health Benefits of Clean Air
EPA Issues Cost/Benefit Rule that Ignores Health Benefits of Clean Air

In related news, the EPA issued a final rule creating a new process for the agency to comply with when conducting cost benefit analysis of Clean Air regulations.  Breaking years of EPA precedent, the new final rule requires the agency to ignore the health benefits associated with any co-pollutant emissions reductions, requires the agency to more broadly consider industry compliance costs and gives regulated industry more regulatory steps and more legal options to challenge future EPA Clean Air regulations.  “The announcement by the EPA to revise their approach to cost benefit analysis, including their proposal to not consider reductions in co-pollutants in calculating benefits of agency actions, reminds us how far the agency has strayed from its original mission and organizing principles when it was established 50 years ago,” said Kevin Cromar, PhD, co-chair of the ATS environmental Health Policy Committee.

Last Reviewed: December 2020