POLLUTION PREVENTION AS PUBLIC-POLICY - AN ASSESSMENT

In recent years, both the public and private sectors have become incre asingly interested in pollution prevention-avoiding creation of pollut ion-as an alternative to treatment or disposal. Observers cite a numbe r of advantages for this approach, such as eliminating the problem of switching pollution from one medium to another and reducing environmen tal problems by avoiding pollutants in the first place. This paper ass esses the advantages of pollution prevention and contrasts them with a performance standard that restricts pollution but gives businesses ma ximum discretion in how to meet the restriction. In most situations, a performance standard can be less costly and equally effective. Howeve r, pollution prevention may be more desirable in the case of nonpoint source pollution or when a pollutant affects a number of media.