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ExpectMore.govExpectMore.gov home pageEXPECT FEDERAL PROGRAMS TO PERFORM WELL, AND BETTER EVERY YEAR.
 
Program Assessment

Program

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EPA Acid Rain Program

The Acid Rain program is designed to reduce the harmful effects of acid rain through reductions in emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. The program employs a market-based emissions trading system to minimize costs and maximize compliance.

Rating

What This Rating Means

PERFORMING
Moderately Effective

In general, a program rated Moderately Effective has set ambitious goals and is well-managed. Moderately Effective programs likely need to improve their efficiency or address other problems in the programs' design or management in order to achieve better results.
  • The program has been successful in implementing emission reduction credit trading within the current statutory structure. The program has achieved a compliance rate of nearly 100%.
  • The program lacks efficiency measures. Reviews of the program have indicated that the program is cost-effective but efficiency should be clearly measured with metrics that account for all related costs.
  • Existing statutory constraints such as maximum emissions reduction targets and the restricted scope of emissions trading limit the program's impact on the persisting human health and environmental issues associated with sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions.

Improvement Plan

About Improvement Plans

We are taking the following actions to improve the performance of the program:

  • Developing efficiency measures which incorporate the full cost of the program, not just the federal contribution.
  • Promoting the enactment of the Administration's Clear Skies legislation to remove statutory restrictions that limit program effectiveness.

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