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Regulating Industrial Water Pollution in the United States

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  • Harrington, Winston

Abstract

The performance of the industrial point-source water pollution abatement program in the U.S. Clean Water Act is examined. I begin with a brief description of the statute and then turn to a description of the process used to develop the rules that govern effluent discharges. This is followed by a discussion of the outcomes resulting from efforts to apply these rules to industrial pollutant sources. Two types of outcomes are considered: administrative outcomes and outcomes in the water. Last, the issue of implementation is discussed: how the Clean Water Act may have affected the incentives governing the behavior of industrial dischargers, municipal waste treatment plant operators, and regulators. Surprisingly, there is some evidence that the Clean Water Act, at least as far as industrial point sources are concerned, may be evolving into an effluent fee policy, or at least a mixed policy.

Suggested Citation

  • Harrington, Winston, 2003. "Regulating Industrial Water Pollution in the United States," Discussion Papers 10608, Resources for the Future.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:rffdps:10608
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.10608
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    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/10608/files/dp030003.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Winston Harrington & Richard D. Morgenstern & Peter Nelson, 2000. "On the accuracy of regulatory cost estimates," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(2), pages 297-322.
    2. MacLeod, Michael J. & Moran, Dominic & Harrington, Winston & Lago, Manuel & Morgenstern, Richard D., 2001. "Improving the Accuracy of UK Regulatory Cost Estimates," Working Papers 45874, Scotland's Rural College (formerly Scottish Agricultural College), Land Economy & Environment Research Group.
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    Cited by:

    1. Carmen Arguedas, 2008. "To Comply or Not To Comply? Pollution Standard Setting Under Costly Monitoring and Sanctioning," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 41(2), pages 155-168, October.
    2. Morgenstern, Richard & Harrington, Winston, 2004. "Evaluating Regulatory Impact Analyses," RFF Working Paper Series dp-04-04, Resources for the Future.
    3. Carmen Arguedas & Eva Camacho & José Zofío, 2010. "Environmental Policy Instruments: Technology Adoption Incentives with Imperfect Compliance," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 47(2), pages 261-274, October.

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    Environmental Economics and Policy;

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