EPA Proposes to Overhaul Cost Benefit Analysis

On June 11, 2020, the EPA issued a proposed rule to overhaul the way it conducts cost-benefit analysis under the Clean Air Act. The proposal asserts that EPA has in the past overestimated regulation's benefits and underestimated costs. If finalized, the rule could be used to limit consideration of co-benefits from the justification of regulations, thereby limiting the agency's ability to consider climate regulations' ancillary benefits such as reductions in conventional pollutants.