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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Regulatory approach to air-quality management: a case study of New Mexico. [Monograph]

Book ·
OSTI ID:5560814

Controversy over the Clean Air Act centers on whether the standards set will accomplish the desired air-quality improvement and whether they are cost-effective. Little research has been done on the importance of effective enforcement at each level of government. New Mexico, with only about 100 stationary pollution sources, offered relative simplicity for this case study, which examined state legislative response and enforcement activities and compliance. The study examines the problems of surveillance and monitoring, variances and exemptions, and incentives for voluntary compliance before analyzing the behaivoral and economic aspects of compliance. It concludes that there are strong incentives for a plant subject to air-pollution-abatement regulations to delay compliance. An effluent charge will not eliminate the problems of surveillance and enforcement without substituting reliable and continuous monitoring. 22 references, 2 figures, 15 tables. (DCK)

OSTI ID:
5560814
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English