Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analysis (2010, revised 2014)

Paper Number: EE-0568

Document Date: 12/17/2010, partial update 05/01/2014

Author(s): U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center for Environmental Economics

Subject Area(s):

Economic Guidelines

Keywords:  Benefit-Cost Analysis, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis,  Valuation, Economic Impact Analysis, Economic Methods, Guidance,  Regulatory Impact Analysis

Abstract: 

The Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses: External Review Draft have been prepared for review by the EPA Science Advisory Board and are part of a continuing effort by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop improved guidance on the preparation and use of sound science in support of the decision making process. This draft document builds on previous work first issued in December of 1983 as the Guidelines for Performing Regulatory Impact Analysis (US EPA 1983) and later revised in the late 1990s. In September of 2000, the EPA issued its Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (US EPA 2000) (EA Guidelines), revised to reflect the evolution of environmental policy making and economic analysis that had accrued over the decade and a half since the original guidelines were released. At the time of release, the EPA committed to periodically revise the EA Guidelines to account for further growth and development of economic tools and practices. 　

In an effort to fulfill that commitment, this draft document incorporates new literature published since the last revision of the EA Guidelines, describes new Executive Orders and recent guidance documents that impose new requirements on analysts, and fills information gaps by providing more expansive information on selected topics. Furthermore, to facilitate the adoption of new information in the future, this document will be released electronically and in a loose-leaf format. This new, more flexible format will allow future updates and additions without requiring a wholesale revision of the document.

Report, with 2014 updates,  available at EPA's National Servce Center for Environmental Publications.

This paper is part of the  Environmental Economics Research Inventory.

• Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses: Full Report (2010) (pdf) (2.14 MB, 12/17/2010, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  The Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses: External Review Draft have been prepared for review by the EPA Science Advisory Board and are part of a continuing effort by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop improved guidance on the preparation and use of sound science in support of the decision making process. This draft document builds on previous work first issued in December of 1983 as the Guidelines for Performing Regulatory Impact Analysis (US EPA 1983).
• Cover page to Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses 2010 edition (pdf) (353.24 KB, 12/01/2010, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Cover page
• Front Matter for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2014) (pdf) (454.45 KB, 05/01/2014, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Front Matter for report
• Chapter 1 for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2010) (pdf) (175.74 KB, 05/01/2014, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Chapter 1 - Introduction
• Chapter 2 for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2010) (pdf) (123.19 KB, 12/1/2010, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Chapter 2 - Statutory and Executive Order Requirements for Conducting Economic Analyses
• Chapter 3 for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2010) (pdf) (87.7 KB, 12/1/2010, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Chapter 3 - Statement of Need for Policy Action
• Chapter 4 for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2010) (pdf) (246.43 KB, 12/01/2010, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Chapter 4 Regulatory and Non-Regulatory Approaches to Pollution Control
• Chapter 5 for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2010) (pdf) (175.64 KB, 12/01/2010, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Chapter 5 - Baseline
• Chapter 6 for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2010) (pdf) (426.42 KB, 12/01/2010, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Chapter 6 - Discounting Future Benefits and Costs
• Chapter 7 for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2010) (pdf) (396.39 KB, 12/01/2010, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Chapter 7 - Analyzing Benefits
• Chapter 8 for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2010) (pdf) (264.38 KB, 12/01/2010, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Chapter 8 - Analyzing Costs
• Chapter 9 for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2014) (pdf) (302.57 KB, 05/01/2014, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Chapter 9 - Employment Impacts Update
• Chapter 10 for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2014) (pdf) (536.08 KB, 05/01/2014, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Chapter 10 - Environmental Justice, Children’s Environmental Health and Other Distributional Considerations
• Chapter 11 for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2010) (pdf) (176.19 KB, 12/01/2010, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Chapter11 - Presentation of Analysis and Results
• Appendix A for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2010) (pdf) (306.54 KB, 12/01/2010, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Appendix A - Economic Theory
• Appendix B for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2010) (pdf) (132.78 KB, 12/01/2010, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Appendix B Mortality Risk Valuation Estimates
• Appendix C for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2010) (pdf) (58.74 KB, 12/01/2010, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  Appendix C - Accounting for Unemployed Labor in Benefit-Cost Analysis
• References for Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2014) (pdf) (1.06 MB, 05/01/2014, EE-0568, EPA 240-R-10-001)
  References