From an EPA press release:
(Washington, D.C.-October 26, 2005) In its 10 years the Acid Rain Program has significantly reduced acid deposition in the United States by cutting sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions from power plants, according to the program's annual report. The newly released Acid Rain Program 2004 Progress Report describes the environmental advances and public health, technology, and market-based improvements accomplished by the program. Widely acknowledged as one of the most successful environmental programs in U.S. history, the program serves as a model for a new generation of air pollution control programs, such as the Clean Air Interstate Rule, which will further reduce air pollution over the next decade.
...
A new analysis in the Journal of Environmental Management estimates the value of the program's human health and environmental benefits in the year 2010 to be $122 billion annually. Most of these benefits result from the prevention of health-related impacts, such as premature deaths and illnesses and workdays missed due to illness, but they also include improved visibility in parks and other recreational and ecosystem improvements.
Does anyone have the citation for this paper?
Update: here is a link to the forthcoming paper. The reference and abstract are below.
A fresh look at the benefits and costs of the US acid rain program
Journal of Environmental Management
Lauraine G. Chestnut, and David M. Mills
Stratus Consulting Inc., P.O. Box 4059, Boulder, CO 80306-4059, USA
Received 1 October 2004; revised 18 May 2005; accepted 19 May 2005. Available online 19 September 2005.
Abstract
The US Acid Rain Program (Title IV of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments) has achieved substantial reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from power plants in the United States. We compare new estimates of the benefits and costs of Title IV to those made in 1990. Important changes in our understanding of and ability to quantify the benefits of Title IV have occurred. Benefits to human health now take a much higher profile because the contribution of SO2 and NOx emissions to the formation of fine particulate (PM2.5) is substantial, and evidence of the harmful human health effects of PM2.5 has emerged in the last 15 years. New estimates of the health benefits of PM2.5 reductions are the largest category of quantified health and environmental benefits and total over US$100 billion annually for 2010 when the program is expected to be fully implemented. Although important uncertainties exist in any specific estimate of the benefits, even if the estimates were calculated using more limiting assumptions and interpretations of the literature they would still substantially exceed the costs. Estimates of annualized costs for 2010 are about US$3 billion, which is less than half of what was estimated in 1990. Research since 1990 also suggests that environmental problems associated with acid deposition and nitrogen deposition are more challenging to resolve than originally thought and will require larger reductions in emissions to reverse. The greater than expected benefits to human health, the greater vulnerability of natural resources and ecosystems, and the lower than expected costs all point to the conclusion that further reductions in SO2 and NOx emissions from power plants beyond those currently required by Title IV are warranted.Keywords: Acid rain; Air pollution; Cost-benefit analysis; Program assessment
