{
  "id": "RL33165",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RL33165",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 310152,
      "date": "2005-11-23",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-07T19:26:32.448029",
      "title": "Costs and Benefits of Clear Skies: EPA's Analysis of Multi-Pollutant Clean Air Bills",
      "summary": "The electric utility industry is a major source of air pollution, particularly sulfur dioxide (SO2),\nnitrogen oxides (NOx), and mercury (Hg), as well as suspected greenhouse gases, particularly carbon\ndioxide (CO2). On October 27, 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a\nlong-awaited analysis comparing the costs and benefits of alternative approaches to controlling this\npollution. The alternative schemes focus on using market-oriented mechanisms directed at multiple\npollutants to achieve health and environmental goals. The new analysis compares four versions of\nthe Administration-based \"Clear Skies\" proposal to bills introduced by Senator Jeffords\n( S. 150 ) and Senator Carper ( S. 843  of the 108th Congress), which would\nimpose more stringent requirements.\n This report, which will not be updated, examines EPA's analysis and adjusts some of its\nassumptions to reflect current regulations. The most important adjustment is the choice of baseline. \nThe agency's analysis assumes as a baseline that, in the absence of new federal legislation, EPA and\nthe states will take no additional action to control SO2, NOx, Hg, or CO2 emissions beyond those\nactions finalized by mid-2004. This baseline is put forth despite three rules recently promulgated by\nEPA that limit SO2, NOx, and Hg emissions on a timeframe similar to that proposed by the Clear\nSkies legislation.\n CRS reexamines EPA's data, producing cost and benefit estimates for each bill incremental to\nthe costs and benefits of current law and promulgated regulations. The reanalysis finds that Clear\nSkies would have negligible incremental costs and added benefits of $6 billion in 2010 and $3 billion\nin 2020. For the same years,  S. 843  would have annual net benefits 8 and 5 times as\ngreat as Clear Skies at annual costs of $4.2 billion and $3 billion, and  S. 150  would\nhave annual net benefits 10 and 16 times those of Clear Skies at annual costs of $23.6 billion and\n$18.1 billion.\n EPA conducted limited sensitivity analyses to examine the effect on cost of select combinations\nof assumptions, including (1) the responsiveness of electricity demand to changes in price; (2) the\navailability of skilled labor to install control equipment; and (3) the growth of electricity demand and\nnatural gas prices. However, some potentially useful combinations of assumptions were not\nexamined. For example, if EPA had combined a relaxed skilled labor constraint with some\nresponsiveness of electricity demand to changes in price, the cost of  S. 150  and\n S. 843  would be substantially reduced. CRS also concluded that the Hg control costs\nused in the analysis may be substantially overstated because of dated assumptions.\n Numerous benefits were not estimated by EPA, partly because of methodological difficulties.\nBenefits not estimated include the environmental (as opposed to health) benefits of controlling the\npollutants; the health effects of mercury control; and any benefits from controlling CO2 emissions. \nThus, even though benefits exceeded costs for each of the options in both EPA's and our analysis,\none should perhaps view the benefit estimates as a floor rather than a best estimate, particularly for\n S. 150  and  S. 843 , which include significant Hg and CO2 reductions.",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
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      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economic Policy",
    "Energy Policy"
  ]
}