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Analysis of EPA`s cost-effectiveness study for the coastal oil and gas effluent limitations guidelines

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/74173· OSTI ID:74173
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., 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
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
03 NATURAL GAS
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
AMMONIA
BENZOPYRENE
BORON
CHEMICAL EFFLUENTS
COMPILED DATA
COMPLIANCE
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
OFFSHORE DRILLING
POLLUTION REGULATIONS
RADIUM
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE WATER
WATER POLLUTION CONTROL