EPA Analysis Stresses “Uncertainties” in Calculating Health Benefits from Emissions Regulation

EPA published an Economic Impact Analysis for the New Source Performance Standards Review for Stationary Combustion Turbines, claiming expanded uncertainties in cost-benefit analysis that uses a benefit-per-ton (BPT) approach to monetizing health values. EPA claimed that BPT analysis provides “a false sense of precision and more confidence regarding the monetized impacts of…ozone than the underlying science could fully support.” Tropospheric ozone contributes significantly to climate change. Discounting public health benefits compromises agencies’ capacity to justify regulations through cost-benefit analysis.