"In a regulatory impact analysis, the EPA said it would stop assigning a monetary value to the health benefits associated with regulations on fine particulate matter and ozone. The agency argued that the estimates contain too much uncertainty. Previously, the EPA placed a dollar figure on the benefits of cleaner air, factoring in outcomes such as fewer premature deaths and reduced illness, including asthma attacks."
"The 2009 endangerment finding determined that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare and should therefore be controlled by the EPA. By revoking it on Thursday, officials eliminated the legal foundation enabling the government to control planet-heating pollution. The senators criticized the updated policy as particularly troubling and said the repeal destroys that framework and results in a failure to faithfully execute EPA's statutory mandate to protect human health, according to a letter sent to the EPA on Thursday."
More than three dozen Democratic senators began an independent inquiry into the US Environmental Protection Agency after a major change in how the agency measures health benefits of reducing air pollution. The EPA said it would stop assigning a monetary value to health benefits associated with fine particulate matter and ozone, citing excessive uncertainty in the estimates. The agency previously placed dollar figures on outcomes such as fewer premature deaths and reduced illness, including asthma attacks. Revoking the 2009 endangerment finding removed the legal basis to regulate greenhouse gases. Senators led by Sheldon Whitehouse requested documents and explanations by 26 February and asked whether the agency will consider factors for Clean Air Act rule-making, extend non-quantification to other pollutants, or consulted outside health officials.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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