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The Unintended Disincentive in the Clean Air Act

Author

Listed:
  • List John A.

    (University of Maryland)

  • Millimet Daniel L

    (Southern Methodist University)

  • McHone Warren

    (University of Central Florida)

Abstract

The Clean Air Act and its subsequent amendments have been lauded as the primary stimulant to the impressive improvement in local air quality in the US since 1970. A key component of these regulations is the New Source Review (NSR) requirement, which includes the contentious stipulation that when an existing plant seeks to modify its operations, the entire plant must comply with current standards for new sources. This requirement was included to improve air quality in dirty areas, and prevent a deterioration of air quality in clean areas. Yet, whether NSR provides the proper plant-level incentives is unclear: there are strong disincentives to undertake major plant modifications to avoid NSR. In our examination of more than 2500 and 2200 plant-level modification decisions and closures, respectively, we find empirical evidence suggesting that NSR retards modification rates, while doing little to hasten the closure of existing dirty plants.

Suggested Citation

  • List John A. & Millimet Daniel L & McHone Warren, 2004. "The Unintended Disincentive in the Clean Air Act," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 4(2), pages 1-28, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejeap:v:advances.4:y:2004:i:2:n:2
    DOI: 10.2202/1538-0637.1204
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    Cited by:

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    2. Nathaniel O. Keohane & Erin T. Mansur & Andrey Voynov, 2009. "Averting Regulatory Enforcement: Evidence from New Source Review," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 75-104, March.
    3. Wenli Yan & Douglas A. Carr, 2013. "Federal Environmental Regulation Impacts on Local Economic Growth and Stability," Economic Development Quarterly, , vol. 27(3), pages 179-192, August.
    4. Bialek, Sylwia & Gregory, Jack & Revesz, Richard L., 2022. "Still your grandfather's boiler: Estimating the effects of the Clean Air Act's grandfathering provisions," Working Papers 05/2022, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung.
    5. Liguo Lin & Wei Sun, 2016. "Location choice of FDI firms and environmental regulation reforms in China," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 207-232, October.
    6. John A. List, 2014. "Using Field Experiments to Change the Template of How We Teach Economics," The Journal of Economic Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 45(2), pages 81-89, June.
    7. Michael Greenstone & John A. List & Chad Syverson, 2011. "The Effects of Environmental Regulation on the Competiveness of U.S. Manufacturing," Working Papers 11-03, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    8. Dalia Patino-Echeverri & Dallas Burtraw & Karen Palmer, 2013. "Flexible mandates for investment in new technology," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 121-155, October.
    9. Anthony Heyes, 2009. "Is environmental regulation bad for competition? A survey," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 1-28, August.
    10. Bushnell, James B. & Wolfram, Catherine D., 2012. "Enforcement of vintage differentiated regulations: The case of new source review," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 137-152.
    11. Wright, Christopher, 2006. "Estimating the Effect of the Chesapeake Bay Program on Application Rates for Enrollment in the Environmental Quality Incentive Program: A Case Study of Pennsylvania," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21164, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    12. Adair, Sarah K. & Hoppock, David C. & Monast, Jonas J., 2014. "New Source Review and coal plant efficiency gains: How new and forthcoming air regulations affect outcomes," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 183-192.
    13. Chan, H. Ron & Zhou, Yichen Christy, 2021. "Regulatory spillover and climate co-benefits: Evidence from New Source Review lawsuits," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    14. Bushnell, James & Wolfram, Catherine, 2008. "Enforcement of Vintage Differentiated Regulations: The Case of New Source Review," Staff General Research Papers Archive 31185, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    15. Douglas A. Carr, 2011. "The Intergovernmental Fiscal Effects of the Clean Air Act," Public Finance Review, , vol. 39(6), pages 810-830, November.
    16. Ian Lange & Joshua Linn, 2008. "Bush v. Gore and the Effect of New Source Review on Power Plant Emissions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 40(4), pages 571-591, August.
    17. Jeffrey Flory & Uri Gneezy & Kenneth Leonard & John List, 2012. "Sex, competitiveness, and investment in offspring: On the origin of preferences," Artefactual Field Experiments 00072, The Field Experiments Website.
    18. List, John A. & McHone, W. Warren & Millimet, Daniel L., 2004. "Effects of environmental regulation on foreign and domestic plant births: is there a home field advantage?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(2), pages 303-326, September.
    19. Calcott, Paul, 2012. "Regulatory triggers and New Source Review," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 337-348.
    20. O. Ashton Morgan & Simon Condliffe, 2009. "Spatial Heterogeneity in Environmental Regulation Enforcement and the Firm Location Decision among U.S. Counties," Working Papers 09-12, Department of Economics, Appalachian State University.
    21. Sánchez-Braza, Antonio & Pablo-Romero, María del P., 2014. "Evaluation of property tax bonus to promote solar thermal systems in Andalusia (Spain)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 832-843.
    22. Hallsworth, Michael & List, John A. & Metcalfe, Robert D. & Vlaev, Ivo, 2017. "The behavioralist as tax collector: Using natural field experiments to enhance tax compliance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 14-31.
    23. Hanna Rema Nadeem & Oliva Paulina, 2010. "The Impact of Inspections on Plant-Level Air Emissions," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-33, March.
    24. Heutel, Garth, 2011. "Plant vintages, grandfathering, and environmental policy," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 36-51, January.

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