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Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses
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What are the Guidelines?
Why are the Guidelines important?
What topics are covered in the Guidelines?
Who are the Guidelines for?
How were the Guidelines produced?
Download a copy of the Guidelines.
For further information on the Guidelines.
What are the Guidelines?
EPA’s Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses establish a sound scientific framework for performing economic analyses of environmental regulations and policies. They incorporate recent advances in theoretical and applied work in the field of environmental economics. The Guidelines provide guidance on analyzing the economic impacts of regulations and policies, and assessing the distribution of costs and benefits among various segments of the population, with a particular focus on disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
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Why are the Guidelines important?
The Guidelines serve several important functions: (1) they assist policy makers in developing regulations that achieve the highest environmental quality and human health standards at the lowest costs; (2) provide analysts with information needed to prepare high quality economic analyses; (3) develop an overarching framework for economic analyses throughout the Agency and across EPA Program Offices; and (4) ensure that important subjects such as uncertainty, timing, and valuation of costs and benefits, are treated consistently in all economic analyses at EPA. EPA will use the Guidelines to evaluate the economic consequences of its regulations and policies to insure that they contribute to a safe environment and a healthy economy.
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What topics are covered in the Guidelines?
The Guidelines address major analytical issues on key topics, including:
Who are the Guidelines for?
The main audiences for the Guidelines are those performing or using economic analysis, including policy makers, the Agency's Program and Regional Offices, and contractors providing economic reports to the EPA. However, the Guidelines may also be useful for those teaching courses on benefit cost analysis or environmental economics.
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How were the Guidelines Produced?
EPA's Regulatory Policy Council, consisting of top-level program managers, and the Agency's program economists oversaw the development of the Guidelines by the EPA's National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE). EPA's Science Advisory Board, comprising leading environmental economists from major universities and research institutions, reviewed the Guidelines throughout their development for accuracy in both economic theory and practice. In their final report to Administrator Carol Browner, the Board gave the Guidelines an overall rating of "excellent," saying, they "succeed in reflecting methods and practices that enjoy widespread acceptance in the environmental economics profession."
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Download a copy of the Guidelines.
The Guidelines are available for download in seven sections or as one single file. All files are in PDF format. Click here to download Acrobat Reader.
An added feature developed for these PDF files is the ability to use interactive links to move throughout the Guidelines using the Table of Contents. For the links in the Table of Contents to remain effective after downloading the files to your computer, the names of the PDF files cannot be changed.
Back to top.
For further information on the Guidelines.
Back to top.
Why are the Guidelines important?
What topics are covered in the Guidelines?
Who are the Guidelines for?
How were the Guidelines produced?
Download a copy of the Guidelines.
For further information on the Guidelines.
What are the Guidelines?
EPA’s Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses establish a sound scientific framework for performing economic analyses of environmental regulations and policies. They incorporate recent advances in theoretical and applied work in the field of environmental economics. The Guidelines provide guidance on analyzing the economic impacts of regulations and policies, and assessing the distribution of costs and benefits among various segments of the population, with a particular focus on disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
Back to top.
Why are the Guidelines important?
The Guidelines serve several important functions: (1) they assist policy makers in developing regulations that achieve the highest environmental quality and human health standards at the lowest costs; (2) provide analysts with information needed to prepare high quality economic analyses; (3) develop an overarching framework for economic analyses throughout the Agency and across EPA Program Offices; and (4) ensure that important subjects such as uncertainty, timing, and valuation of costs and benefits, are treated consistently in all economic analyses at EPA. EPA will use the Guidelines to evaluate the economic consequences of its regulations and policies to insure that they contribute to a safe environment and a healthy economy.
Back to top.
What topics are covered in the Guidelines?
The Guidelines address major analytical issues on key topics, including:
- Treatment of uncertainty and non-monetary information
- Estimating the value of reducing fatal risks
- Defining baseline conditions (i.e., contrasting the state of the economy and environment with and without a proposed regulatory policy).
- Discounting and comparing differences in the timing of benefits and costs
- Examining environmental justice concerns in economic analyses
- Assessing who pays the costs and receives the benefits of regulations
- Locating available data sources for conducting economic analyses.
Who are the Guidelines for?
The main audiences for the Guidelines are those performing or using economic analysis, including policy makers, the Agency's Program and Regional Offices, and contractors providing economic reports to the EPA. However, the Guidelines may also be useful for those teaching courses on benefit cost analysis or environmental economics.
Back to top.
How were the Guidelines Produced?
EPA's Regulatory Policy Council, consisting of top-level program managers, and the Agency's program economists oversaw the development of the Guidelines by the EPA's National Center for Environmental Economics (NCEE). EPA's Science Advisory Board, comprising leading environmental economists from major universities and research institutions, reviewed the Guidelines throughout their development for accuracy in both economic theory and practice. In their final report to Administrator Carol Browner, the Board gave the Guidelines an overall rating of "excellent," saying, they "succeed in reflecting methods and practices that enjoy widespread acceptance in the environmental economics profession."
Back to top.
Download a copy of the Guidelines.
The Guidelines are available for download in seven sections or as one single file. All files are in PDF format. Click here to download Acrobat Reader.
An added feature developed for these PDF files is the ability to use interactive links to move throughout the Guidelines using the Table of Contents. For the links in the Table of Contents to remain effective after downloading the files to your computer, the names of the PDF files cannot be changed.
Contents of PDF files for Guidelines | Size, name of PDF file |
| Cover | 498k, cover.pdf |
| Preface Table of Contents Acronyms and Abbreviations Acknowledgments | 217k, Pref-ack.pdf |
| Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Statutory and Executive Order Requirements for Conducting Economic Analyses Chapter 3: Statement of Need for the Proposal Chapter 4: Regulatory and Non-Regulatory Approaches to Consider Chapter 5: Overview of Economic Analysis of Environmental Policy | 475k, Ch1-5.pdf |
| Chapter 6: Analysis of Social Discounting Chapter 7: Analyzing Benefits | 467k, Ch6-7.pdf |
| Chapter 8: Analyzing Social Costs | 178k, Ch8.pdf |
| Chapter 9: Distributional Analyses: Economic Impact Analyses and Equity Assessments Chapter 10: Using Economic Analyses in Decision Making | 447k, Ch9-10.pdf |
| Appendix A: SAB Review of EA Guidelines Appendix B: EPA's Response to SAB Review | 129k, Appendices.pdf |
| To download entire document in one PDF file | 2,400k, Guidelines.pdf |
| To download a two page fact sheet on the Guidelines | 17k, FactSheet.pdf |
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For further information on the Guidelines.
| Chris Dockins (Guidelines Project Leader): | 202-566-2286 | dockins.chris@epa.gov |
| Brett Snyder (BAMDD, Division Director): | 202-566-2261 | snyder.brett@epa.gov |
| Al McGartland (NCEE, Director): | 202-566-2244 |  |
| Office fax numbers: | 202-566-2363 & 566-2338 | |
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