Benefits and Costs of Maintaining Short-Term Sulfur Dioxide Standards in Non-Urban Areas. Paper 78-52.4

摘要

The body of information presented in this paper is directed toward air pollution control officials, environmental economists, and environmental systems analysts. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the economics of various alternatives for maintaining the short-term SO sub 2 standards. This is done by estimating the benefit and cost of meeting a mass-emission limit designed to ensure compliance with short-term SO sub 2 standards. A case study approach is taken using rural Illinois as the study area. The benefits considered are largely the result of avoiding physical damages that would occur at high pollution levels. These damages are of three principal types: mortality, morbidity, and material damages. Permanent controls to comply with SO sub 2 and particulate matter emission limits are assumed to involve the installation of scrubbers, particulate control equipment, and/or fuel switching. Short-term controls include load and fuel switching and reducing output. The results of the analysis indicate that there can be considerable economic advantages if short-term solutions are used on a permanent basis to maintain short-term SO sub 2 standards in rural areas where the annual standards are not threatened. (ERA citation 03:055830)