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1 1 (April 16, 1997)

handle is hein.crs/crsaajl0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 97-459 ENR April 16, 1997 Environmental Protection: How Much It Costs and Who Pays John E. Blodgett Environment and Natural Resources Policy Division Summary A recurring issue in environmental policy is the cost of pollution control imposed on individuals, businesses, and governments. To inform policymakers about these costs, a number of surveys and analyses have been conducted over the years. Consistent, basic sources have been an annual survey of costs to manufacturers, conducted by the Bureau of Census (BOC), and an annual analysis of total costs, prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). Overall, the BEA analysis showed the nation spent $122 billion for pollution abatement and control in 1994, or about 1.76% of Gross Domestic Product. Personal consumption expenditures for pollution control were $22 billion, government $35 billion, and business $65 billion. These 1994 data represent the end of the annual series: the BOC survey and BEA analysis have been discontinued. Background While debate continues over defining environmental protection costs and what they mean for society as a whole,1 every year individuals, communities, businesses, and industries pay billions of dollars to control pollution. They pay both directly for pollution control technologies and services (e.g., catalytic converters on autos and sewerage fees) and indirectly for pollution control costs embedded in goods and services (e.g., the price of electricity may include the costs of electrostatic precipitators and flue-gas desulfurization units to reduce air pollution). Efforts to measure those costs at the national level began shortly after national environmental protection programs emerged in the 1960s. Beginning in the 1970s, several general sources of cost data were widely available. Key sources were annual surveys by the BOC and McGraw-Hill, regular analyses by the BEA and the Council on 1 For an overview of literature on the relationship between Federal regulations, including pollution control requirements, and the economy, see Robert W. Hahn and John A. Hird, The Costs and Benefits of Regulation: Review and Synthesis, Yale Journal on Regulation, Vol. 8, no. 233 (1990), 233-278. For a spirited debate reflecting divergent views of pollution control costs, see David Gardiner and Paul R. Portney, Does Environmental Policy Conflict with Economic Growth, Resources, no. 115 (Resources for the Future, Spring, 1994), 19-23. Congressional Research Service **** The Library of Congress CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web

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