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Environmental Economics

Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources, including how markets function and how incentives affect people’s, businesses’ and institutions’ behavior.  Within this discipline, environmental and natural resource economics is the application of the principles of economics to the study of how environmental and natural resources are developed and managed.

EPA uses economic analyses to improve the effectiveness of its environmental policies. A variety of economic tools allow the costs and benefits of different policy options to be compared. EPA also pursues new research to develop improved methods for measuring the economic consequences of environmental outcomes.

Publications and Reports

Water Research Publications
  • Environmental economics reports
  • Working paper series
  • Journal articles and book chapters
  • America's Children and the Environment
  • Environmental Justice in Regulatory Analysis

Economic Topics

Economic Topics
  • Biofuels
  • Climate change
  • Mortality risk valuation
  • Waste management and land cleanup
  • Additional economic topics

Environmental Economics at EPA

Environmental Economics at EPA
  • Overview
  • Seminars and workshops
  • CGE Modeling for Regulatory Analysis
  • Current opportunities, grants and solicitations
  • NCEE Recruitment Information Sessions – Nov 14 and Nov 15

Guidelines for Economic Analyses

  • Ongoing SAB review of proposed revisions to Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2020)   
  • Final Guidelines for Preparing Economic Analyses (2010)

Key Resources

  • Retrospective Study of the Costs of EPA Regulations
  • EPA Handbook on Land Cleanup and Reuse
  • Environmental Justice in Regulatory Analysis
  • Peer Review of TSD: Social Cost of Greenhouse Gas Estimates

Environmental Economic Resources

  • EPA Datasets
  • EPA papers and reports
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
Last updated on November 8, 2022
United States Environmental Protection Agency

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