Benefits of CAA Far Outweigh Costs

[Arthur Clark <aclark@essential.org>]

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TAP-RESOURCES
October 22, 1997


       NEW REPORT SHOWS CLEAN AIR BENEFITS  
          SIGNIFICANTLY OUTWEIGH COSTS




     EPA today released a report required by Congress 
showing that from 1970 to 1990 the public health protection 
and environmental benefits of the Clean Air Act (CAA)
exceeded the costs of its programs by a huge margin.

     Using a sophisticated array of computer models, EPA 
found that by 1990, if the CAA had not been enacted, 205,000 
Americans would have died prematurely, and millions more 
would have suffered illnesses ranging from mild respiratory 
symptoms to severe respiratory problems such as heart disease, 
chronic bronchitis and asthma attacks.  In addition, the lack 
of controls on the use of leaded gasoline would have resulted 
in a significant decrease in children's intelligence quotients, 
and a substantial increase in adult hypertension, heart
disease, and stroke.

     From 1970 to 1990, EPA estimates that the total benefits of 
CAA programs  ranged from about $6 trillion to about $50 
trillion, with an average benefit of about $22 trillion.  These 
estimates represent the value of avoiding the dire air quality 
conditions and dramatic increases in illness and premature death 
which would have prevailed without the Act.

     By contrast, the actual costs of achieving the pollution 
reductions over the same 20 year period were $523 billion, a small 
fraction of the estimated monetary benefits.

     In addition, there are a large number of human health and 
environmental benefits which could not be quantified and expressed 
in dollar terms, including the control of cancer-causing air toxics, 
as well as the ecological benefits of reducing pollutants such as 
lead, ozone and particulate matter.

     Today's retrospective study was designed and developed over a 
six-year period, and received extensive peer review by an independent 
panel of distinguished economists, scientists and public health experts.  
It is the first in an ongoing series of EPA cost/benefit reports to 
Congress.  The next study, already under development, will estimate the 
benefits and costs of programs implementing the 1990 CAA Amendments.

     The abstract and executive summary of  today's report, "The 
Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act, 1970 to 1990," (October 1997), 
can be downloaded off the Internet, web address:  
http://www.epa.gov/oar/oario.html  A limited number of paper copies of 
the full report are available from Catrice Jefferson at 202-260-5580.

For further technical information on the report, contact Jim DeMocker 
at 202-260-8980, or E-Mail him at democker.jim@epamail.epa.gov

R-151                                                  
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