Efficient regional ozone control strategies for the eastern United States

When environmental regulatory bodies formulate control plans, it is incumbe nt upon them to try to achieve the stated goals in an economically efficien t manner. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is presently develop ing regulations to limit the influence of transported ozone on areas that a re having difficulty meeting the ambient air quality standard. EPA has prop osed stringent control measures for emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in 2 2 states of the eastern US. The strategy would necessitate the use of selec tive catalytic reduction or similar high-performance technology on almost a ll major power plants in the region, as well as extensive controls on indus trial sources. This paper suggests several alternative approaches that woul d achieve equal or better environmental improvement at lower cost. These in clude focusing control efforts on sources closer to the North-east Corridor , pushing controls on close-in sources to a higher level of technology perf ormance, and relaxing the stringency of requirements for states remote from ozone problem areas. AII the approaches examined are two to three times mo re cost-effective than EPA's proposed approach in the North-east Corridor.