Benefit-Cost Implications of Acid Rain Controls: An Evaluation of the NAPAP Integrated Assessment

Abstract

Concluding ten years of study, the U.S. National Acid Precipitation Assessment Program (NAPAP) recently issued its integrated assessment report designed to provide guidance to policy makers on the sources and effects of acid deposition, and the costs and benefits of alternative control measures. This paper focuses on an evaluation of the benefit-cost implications of acid rain controls as revealed by two of the five major questions addressed in the NAPAP assessment framework. While the NAPAP effort made significant scientific contributions to the study of acid deposition, key gaps are found in the assessment of benefits and costs most relevant to policy decisions. Lessons learned from NAPAP may be helpful in avoiding similar problems in assessing emerging environmental issues such as global climate change.