Economic Benefits of Improvements in Visibility: Acid Rain Provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments

The Acid Rain Provisions (Title IV) of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 call for about a 10 million ton reduction in annual SO 2 emissions in the United States. Although the provisions apply nationwide, most of the reduction will occur in the eastern half of the country, where use of high-sulfur...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995) Vol. 47; no. 3; pp. 395 - 402
Main Authors Chestnut, Lauraine G., Dennis, Robin L.
Format Journal Article Conference Proceeding
LanguageEnglish
Published Pittsburgh, PA Taylor & Francis Group 01.03.1997
Air & Waste Management Association
Subjects
Applied sciences
Atmospheric pollution
Exact sciences and technology
Pollutants physicochemistry study: properties, effects, reactions, transport and distribution
Pollution
United States
North America
America
National park
Pollution prevention
Air pollution
Air quality
Economic study
Visibility
Urban area
Pollutant emission
East
Sulfur dioxide
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Summary:The Acid Rain Provisions (Title IV) of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 call for about a 10 million ton reduction in annual SO 2 emissions in the United States. Although the provisions apply nationwide, most of the reduction will occur in the eastern half of the country, where use of high-sulfur coal for electricity generation is most common. One potentially large benefit of Title IV is the expected improvement in visibility conditions in the eastern United States due to the reductions in secondary sul-fate aerosols. This paper combines available economic estimates of willingness to pay for improvements in visibility with current estimates of the difference between expected visibility conditions in the eastern United States with and without Title I V, to estimate the expected visibility benefits of Title IV. The results suggest an annual value of $2.3 billion (in 1994 dollars) in the year 2010, as a result of visibility improvements due to Title IV in residential areas of the eastern United States. The results also suggest a possible additional annual value for eastern U.S. residents of as much as $1-2 billion for visibility improvements at national parks in the Southeast.
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ISSN:1096-2247
2162-2906
DOI:10.1080/10473289.1997.10464437