Paper Number: EE-0476

Document Date: 04/01/2002

Author(s):  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Subject Area(s): Economic Analysis, Benefits Valuation, Drinking Water, Distributional Analysis, SBREFA, UMRA, Health Benefits

Keywords:  Economic Analysis, Benefits Valuation, Drinking Water, Distributional Analysis, SBREFA, UMRA, Health Benefits

Abstract: 

This report was developed jointly by the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water and the National Center for Environmental Economics to provide information to stakeholders and other interested parties on analyzing the effects of regulations establishing Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for drinking water. It was created in response to new provisions contained in the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), working closely with a group of stakeholders -- the Benefits Working Group of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council. The Amendments create specific requirements for assessing benefits and for using the resulting information in EPA decision-making. This document focuses on the benefits valuation issues commonly addressed by EPA's economists and policy analysts. It also briefly discusses the assessment of costs and risks, and provide references for more detailed information on these topics.

This paper is part of the  Environmental Economics Research Inventory.

• Assessing the Benefits of Drinking Water: A Primer for Stakeholders (2002) (PDF)(137 pp, 835 K, 04/01/2002, EE-0476)
  developed jointly by the Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water and the National Center for Environmental Economics to provide information to stakeholders and other interested parties on analyzing the effects of regulations establishing Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) for drinking water. This document focuses on the benefits valuation issues commonly addressed by EPA's economists and policy analysts.