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Reassessment of the Impact of the EPA’s Voluntary 33/50 Program on Toxic Releases

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  • Xiang Bi
  • Madhu Khanna

Abstract

This paper reevaluates the effectiveness of the EPA’s voluntary 33/50 program in reducing the releases of 17 high-priority toxic chemicals for the 1988–1995 period. Contrary to previous studies that use program participation information at the firm level and find mixed evidence on the effectiveness of the program, our analysis uses participation status at the facility level and shows the importance of undertaking analysis at a disaggregated scale. We find the rate of reduction in releases was significantly higher for program participants than nonparticipants, but the effect is attenuated when estimated using firm-level participation data.

Suggested Citation

  • Xiang Bi & Madhu Khanna, 2012. "Reassessment of the Impact of the EPA’s Voluntary 33/50 Program on Toxic Releases," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 88(2), pages 341-361.
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:landec:v:88:y:2012:ii:1:p:341-361
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Fraas, Art & Egorenkov, Alex, 2015. "A Retrospective Study of EPA’s Air Toxics Program under the Revised Section 112 Requirements of the Clean Air Act," RFF Working Paper Series dp-15-23, Resources for the Future.
    2. Carrión-Flores, Carmen E. & Innes, Robert & Sam, Abdoul G., 2013. "Do voluntary pollution reduction programs (VPRs) spur or deter environmental innovation? Evidence from 33/50," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 444-459.
    3. Li, Huan & Khanna, Neha, 2016. "Does Voluntary Regulation Provide Regulatory Relief? A Lesson from the Responsible Care Program," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235652, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    4. Michael L. Polemis & Thanasis Stengos, 2019. "Does competition prevent industrial pollution? Evidence from a panel threshold model," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 98-110, January.
    5. Naonari Yajima & Toshi H. Arimura, 2019. "Effectiveness of Multiple-Policy Instruments: Evidence from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Policy in Japan," Working Papers 1916, Waseda University, Faculty of Political Science and Economics.
    6. Xiang Bi & Connor Mullally, 2021. "Does Peer Adoption Increase the Diffusion of Pollution Prevention Practices?," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 97(1), pages 224-245.
    7. Hoang, Phi Cong & McGuire, William & Prakash, Aseem, 2018. "Reducing Toxic Chemical Pollution in Response to Multiple Information Signals: The 33/50 Voluntary Program and Toxicity Disclosures," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 193-202.
    8. Evans, Mary F. & Liu, Lirong & Stafford, Sarah L., 2015. "Standardization and the impacts of voluntary program participation: Evidence from environmental auditing," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 10-21.
    9. Xiang Bi & Madhu Khanna, 2017. "Inducing pollution prevention adoption: effectiveness of the 33/50 voluntary environmental program," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(12), pages 2234-2254, December.
    10. Li, Huan & Khanna, Neha & Vidovic, Martina, 2014. "Third Party Certification and Self-Regulation: Evidence from Responsible Care and Accidents in the US Chemical Industry," 2014 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2014, Minneapolis, Minnesota 170492, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Yajima, Naonari & Arimura, Toshi H., 2022. "Promoting energy efficiency in Japanese manufacturing industry through energy audits: Role of information provision, disclosure, target setting, inspection, reward, and organizational structure," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    12. George E. Halkos & Michael L. Polemis, 2019. "The impact of market structure on environmental efficiency in the United States: A quantile approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 127-142, January.
    13. Kentaro Florian Mayr & Paolo Agnolucci, 2023. "Heterogeneous Impacts in Voluntary Agreements: A Changes-in-Changes Approach to the UK Climate Change Agreements," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 86(3), pages 345-379, November.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q52 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment Effects

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