Cost Analysis of Particulate Matter Control Programs – A Case Study of Tokyo

Abstract

The objectives of this case study were to assess economic costs of existing environmental policies of particulate matter (PM) in Tokyo and compare the costs to estimates of benefits developed previously. The purchasing power parity‐adjusted one year estimates for the costs of PM pollution control and prevention were: (1) $720 million (USD) for stationary source controls, (2) a range of $690 million to $1.1 billion for diesel motor vehicle controls, (3) $4.2 million for governmental employee salaries, (4) $50 million for governmental financial assistance, and (5) a range of $1.5 billion to $1.9 billion for total costs. Overall these cost results appear more likely to be overestimates than underestimates due to a number of conservative assumptions, in particular for mobile source controls. Using human health and productivity benefits calculated in a previous study to be $38 billion USD, and annualized capital and operating costs from this work, the best net ratio of benefits to costs was 20 to 1. This suggests that Tokyo's PM pollution control policies in total were economically very effective in the past, and that stricter controls or broader regulatory coverage can be justified in the future.

Keywords:

• Air pollution
• cost
• particulate matter
• Japan
• PM

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Larry Sorrels, Environmental Economist, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, for sharing his expertise in EPA's cost analysis methodologies for application to particulate matter control.