Chapter 11 Improving Air Quality Controlling Mobile Sources

Urban Air Pollution: An Important Policy Motivation l Measuring U. S. Air Quality ¡ Air quality index (AQI) – an index that signifies the worst daily air quality in an urban area over some time period 2

Urban Air Pollution: An Important Policy Motivation l Urban Smog ¡ Photochemical smog – a type of smog caused by pollutants that chemically react in sunlight to form new substances 3

Controlling Mobile Sources l Brief Retrospective on Motor Vehicle Emission Controls ¡ ¡ 1963 – Congress passed into law the Clean Air Act, the first extensive set of air quality standards Early years of mobile source controls were marked by a series of extensions and a chronicle of delays 4

Controlling Mobile Sources Figure 11. 2 National Emissions Estimates for Mobile Sources by Major Category for 1999 5

Controlling Mobile Sources l Current U. S. Controls on Motor Vehicles and Fuels ¡ 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments strengthened U. S. controls on motor vehicle emissions and fuels l Included incentives to encourage technological development of cleaner-running vehicles and cleaner alternative fuels 6

Controlling Mobile Sources l Emission reductions for motor vehicles ¡ ¡ Onboard Pollution Control Systems for Light-Duty Vehicles Fuel Quality Controls l Reformulated gasoline – newly developed fuels that emit less hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and toxics than conventional gasoline l Oxygenated fuel – formulations with enhanced oxygen content to allow for more complete combustion and hence a reduction in CO emissions 7

Controlling Mobile Sources ¡ Clean Fuel Vehicles – a vehicle certified to meet stringent emission standards l Clean alternative fuels – fuels such as methanol, or other alcohols, or power sources, such as electricity, used in a clean fuel vehicle 8

Economic Analysis of Mobile Source Controls l Absence of Benefit-Cost Analysis: An Inefficient Decision Rule ¡ ¡ Technology forcing – by design specifically set to compel the auto industry to find solutions Benefit-based – standards set to protect public health and welfare 9

Economic Analysis of Mobile Source Controls Figure 11. 3 Inefficiency of a Benefit-Based Decision Rule on Motor Vehicle Emissions 10

Economic Analysis of Mobile Source Controls l Uniformity of Auto Emissions Standards ¡ ¡ ¡ Ongoing problem with U. S. mobile source controls is that with few exceptions the emission standards are applicable across the board on every model produced and without regard to where the vehicle will be driven Uniform standard Two-tiered standard 11

Economic Analysis of Mobile Source Controls l Inherent Bias Against New versus Used Automobiles ¡ One dilemma of environmental law is the inherent bias caused by more stringent controls placed on new polluting sources 12

Economic Analysis of Mobile Source Controls Figure 11. 5 Modeling the Bias Against New Automobiles 13