Benefits and Costs of NSR Enforcement

The report argues that the health benefits of enforcing New Source Review (NSR) on 51 violating power plants significantly outweigh the costs of installing Best Available Control Technology (BACT). Using EPA-approved methodologies, the analysis estimates that cleaning up these plants would avoid thousands of premature deaths and tens of thousands of asthma attacks annually, with benefits valued at $24-38 billion against an annual cost of approximately $3.6 billion.

• The 51 power plants identified for NSR violations contribute a disproportionate amount of pollution relative to their capacity, accounting for 24 percent of nitrogen oxides and 27 percent of sulfur dioxide emissions despite representing only 11 percent of the nation's electric capacity.
• Annual premature deaths attributable to the 51 power plants charged with NSR violations are estimated to be between 5,500 and 9,000, with 4,300 to 7,000 of these deaths avoidable if Best Available Control Technology (BACT) were implemented.
• The analysis estimates that between 106,000 and 165,000 asthma attacks are caused by the 51 NSR-violating plants annually, and that 80,000 to 120,000 of these could be prevented through BACT-level controls.
• The monetized health benefits of cleaning up all 51 plants to BACT levels are estimated at $24-38 billion in 1999 dollars, while the annual cost of these reductions is approximately $3.6 billion in 2001 dollars.
• The benefit-to-cost ratio for NSR enforcement is estimated to be between 7 to 1 in the low estimate and 10 to 1 in the high estimate.

APA

Hill, L. B. (2002). Benefits and Costs of NSR Enforcement. Clean Air Task Force. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093525/NSR_Benefit_Cost.pdf

Chicago

Hill, L. Bruce. Benefits and Costs of NSR Enforcement. Clean Air Task Force, 2002. https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093525/NSR_Benefit_Cost.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Hill |first1=L. Bruce |title=Benefits and Costs of NSR Enforcement |publisher=Clean Air Task Force |date=24 June 2002 |url=https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093525/NSR_Benefit_Cost.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{hill2002benefits, author = {Hill, L. Bruce}, title = {{Benefits and Costs of NSR Enforcement}}, institution = {Clean Air Task Force}, year = {2002}, month = jun, url = {https://cdn.catf.us/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/21093525/NSR_Benefit_Cost.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }