RTI researchers will conduct economic analyses and develop models to support regulatory decisions regarding controls on major sources of air pollution for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
The EPA, which has the responsibility and authority under the Clean Air Act to set and revise regulations to reduce the release of air pollutants, has relied on RTI for technical support in this area of policy analysis for 35 years.
"Our analyses will provide the EPA with the information it needs to develop more effective, economically efficient air quality policies," said Brian Murray, RTI's project director.
"In doing so, we help federal policy makers establish regulations that balance environmental and economic considerations".
Under terms of the five-year contract, worth $9.5 million, RTI economists, working with environmental scientists and engineers, will assess the benefits and costs of traditional and market-based approaches to pollution control and will analyze potential economic effects of proposed emissions controls and national air quality standards.
RTI economists also will develop comprehensive profiles of regulated industries and will design and implement economic models of the impacts proposed regulations may have on those industries including pricing, production, employment rates and economic welfare.
Building on its long history with the EPA, researchers at RTI will identify sources of air pollutants, assess air quality implications of pollution, estimate the social costs associated with human health and ecological damages from elevated concentrations of air pollutants, and analyze the effectiveness of alternative methods of pollution control.
RTI is joined in this award by five subcontracting firms who also specialize in environmental economics and engineering.
