Analysis of EPA`s cost-effectiveness study for the coastal oil and gas effluent limitations guidelines
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted a cost-effectiveness (CE) analysis to estimate the incremental cost of complying with the proposed effluent limitation guidelines (ELGs) for the coastal oil and gas industry (EPA 1995a). EPA`s CE analysis calculates the pounds of each pollutant that would be removed if the chosen discharge option is selected. In 1993, EPA issued final ELGs for the offshore oil and gas industry and published an offshore CE analysis. The chemical characteristics of produced water from the offshore region are essentially the same as those of produced water from the coastal region. It was surprising, therefore, that EPA chose a much longer list of pollutants and generally stricter weighting factors for the coastal CE analysis. This report reviews the data, assumptions, and analyses used in EPA`s coastal CE analysis and identifies alternate data, assumptions, and analyses that could lead to significantly different cost-effectiveness conclusions. Two alternate lists of pollutants are proposed, along with recalculated weighting factors for several pollutants that contributed a large proportion of the total PEs removed--radium, benzo(a)pyrene, boron, and ammonia. By using different combinations of these variables, a range of revised estimates of CE is calculated.
- Research Organization:
- Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-31109-ENG-38
- OSTI ID:
- 74173
- Report Number(s):
- ANL/EA/RP-86431; ON: DE95011823; TRN: AHC29519%%38
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: May 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Review of the cost-effectiveness of EPA`s offshore oil and gas effluent guidelines
Review of the cost-effectiveness of EPA's offshore oil and gas effluent guidelines