Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition Loadings to the Chesapeake Bay: An Initial Analysis of the Cost Effectiveness of Control Options (1996)

Paper Number: EE-0007

EPA Report Number:  EPA-230-R-96-012

Document Date: 11/01/1996

Author(s):  E.H. Pechan and Associates, Inc.

Subject Area(s): Economic Analysis,  Water Quality, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, Nitrogen Deposition

Keywords: Economic Analysis,  Water Quality, Cost-Effectiveness Analysis, Nitrogen Deposition

Abstract: 

This report examines the cost effectiveness of control options which reduce nitrate deposition to the Chesapeake watershed and to the tidal Bay. The report analyzes current estimates of the reductions expected in the ozone transport region. Two regional models, the Regional Acid Deposition Model of the airshed and the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Model (CBWM), track nitrate and its precursors from emission to deposition, and from deposition in the watershed to the tidal Bay.

The ultimate object of this analysis is to determine the sources of atmospheric nitrate deposited to the Bay, the loads from each major source, the load reduction amount brought about by controls, and the cost of these reductions. The analysis of control option cost effectiveness reported here contributes to the establishment of a first-order estimate of control cost and is useful in distinguishing control options of relatively greater or lesser cost effectiveness.

A copy of this paper is available at the EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP).

This paper is part of the  Environmental Economics Research Inventory.