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Retrospective Evaluation of the Costs of Complying with Light-Duty Vehicle Surface Coating Requirements

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2018

Ann Wolverton ,
Ann E. Ferris  and
Nathalie B. Simon
Ann Wolverton*
Affiliation:
U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, MC 1809T, Washington, D.C. 20460, USA, e-mail: wolverton.ann@epa.gov
Ann E. Ferris
Affiliation:
U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, MC 1809T, Washington, D.C. 20460, USA, e-mail: ferris.ann@epa.gov
Nathalie B. Simon
Affiliation:
U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, MC 1809T, Washington, D.C. 20460, USA, e-mail: simon.nathalie@epa.gov
*
*e-mail: wolverton.ann@epa.gov
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Abstract

This paper compares the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ex ante compliance cost estimates for the 2004 Automobile and Light-Duty Truck Surface Coating National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants to ex post evidence on the actual costs of compliance based on ex post cost data gathered from a subset of the industry via pilot survey and follow-up interviews. Unlike many prior retrospective studies on the cost of regulatory compliance, we use this newly gathered information to identify the key drivers of any differences between the ex ante and ex post estimates. We find that the U.S. EPA overestimated the cost of compliance for the plants in our sample and that overestimation was driven primarily by differences in the method of compliance rather than differences in the per-unit cost associated with a given compliance approach. In particular, the U.S. EPA expected facilities to install pollution abatement control technologies in their paint shops to reduce emissions of hazardous air pollutants, but instead these plants complied by reformulating coatings.

Keywords

Q52Q53Q55Q58air regulationbenefit-cost analysisretrospective cost analysistransportation
Type
Article
Information
Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis , Volume 10 , Issue 1 , Spring 2019 , pp. 39 - 64
Copyright
© Society for Benefit-Cost Analysis 2018 

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Footnotes

The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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