EPA evaluates air, water controls

Journal Article · Wed Jun 05 04:00:00 EDT 1996 · Chemical Week

OSTI ID:530448

Fairley, P

Water and air pollution controls make significant contribution to the economy`s health, according to two EPA reports. Clean water provides billions of dollars in benefits to US industries, says a recently released study; and the agency`s draft report on the benefits of air pollution identifies $$20 in medical costs avoided for every dollar spent on pollution controls. The Clean Water Industry Coalition (CWIC) says the water report reaffirms the need to {open_quotes}modernize{close_quotes} the Clean Water Act (CWA), but EPA administrator Carol Browner says a CWA {open_quotes}rollback{close_quotes} supported by CWIC and passed by House Republicans last May would have jeopardized industries that depend on clean water by weakening effluent standards. Browner denies that the benefits of clean water as identified by the EPA report would have protected water standards from the bill`s cost-benefit requirements. A draft EPA report on clean air leaked by the American Lung Association estimates that tailpipe and smokestack controls for air pollution saved 79,000 lives and resulted in 15 million fewer respiratory illnesses in 1990 alone. The report assesses the costs and benefits of the Clean Air Act from 1970 to 1990. The cost of federal, state, and local regulations were estimated at $$436 billion over the 20-year span, whereas direct benefits of reduced pollution totaled $6.8 trillion.

• OSTI ID: 530448
• Journal Information: Chemical Week, Journal Name: Chemical Week Journal Issue: 22 Vol. 158; ISSN CHWKA9; ISSN 0009-272X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
CLEAN AIR ACTS
CLEAN WATER ACTS
COST
COST BENEFIT ANALYSIS
ECONOMIC IMPACT
EVALUATION
EXHAUST GASES
HEALTH HAZARDS
LIQUID WASTES
POLLUTION REGULATIONS
PUBLIC HEALTH
US EPA
WATER POLLUTION
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL