EPA won't figure cost savings of pollution rules

The Environmental Protection Agency says it will stop calculating how much money is saved in healthcare costs avoided and deaths prevented from air pollution rules that curb two deadly pollutants.

- By MatTHew DaLy

The change means in considering limits on fine particulate matter and ozone pollution, the EPA will focus only on the cost to industry.

It’s part of a broader realignment under President Trump toward a business-friendly approach that has included the rollback of multiple policies meant to safeguard human health and the environment and slow climate change.

The agency said in a statement that it “absolutely remains committed to our core mission of protecting human health and the environment” but “will not be monetizing the impacts at this time.”

The EPA will continue to estimate costs to businesses to comply with the rules and will continue “ongoing work to refine its economic methodologies” of pollution rules, spokeswoman Brigit Hirsch said.

Environmental and public health advocates called the agency action a dangerous abdication of one of its core missions.

“The EPA's mandate is to protect public health, not to ignore the science in order to eliminate clean air safeguards that save lives,” said John Walke, a senior attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

He called the change in how public health benefits are calculated “reckless, dangerous and illegal,” adding: “By pretending real health benefits do not count, EPA wants to open the door for industry to foul the air, while communities and families pay the price in asthma attacks, heart disease and premature deaths.”

The change in how the EPA calculates health benefits was first reported by the New York Times.

A broader change in EPA’s approach