The Benefits of Clean Air: How EPA Values Reductions in Air PollutionDr. Bryan Hubbell, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
Friday, November 8, 2:30 p.m.
Belk Library and Information Commons Lecture Hall 114
The U.S. EPA has been regulating air pollution for over four decades, and uses cost-benefit analysis to evaluate major regulations, those expected to result in more than $100 million in costs and benefits. EPA analysts conduct detailed benefits analyses which include estimating avoided health effects such as hospitalizations and reductions in risk of premature death, as well as environmental effects such as improved visibility in national parks and increased commercial timber yields. In recent years, EPA has moved towards an ecosystem services framework for estimating the benefits of improvements in ecological effects such as reduced acid deposition and decreased ozone impacts on forest ecosystems. This talk provides an overview of the ways in which EPA conducts benefits analyses for air pollution regulations, including how scientific evidence is incorporated in estimating health and environmental impacts, how we use sophisticated air quality and risk models, and how economic values are assigned to reductions in air pollution related health and environmental impacts.
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