17
Costs and Benefits
INTRODUCTION
Implementing a program to reduce the usage of toxic chemicals will entail costs to
• Set up and administer the program (by federal and administrative agencies)
• Analyze, report on, and pay fees for usage of the chemicals (by companies)
Implementing a program to reduce the usage of toxic chemicals will also have
associated economic and other benefits, consisting of
• Health benefits and reduced costs associated with reduced toxic chemical
usage and, hence, exposure via direct releases and through use of products
themselves.
• Environmental impacts. The ultimate goal of a toxic chemical reduction
program is to have a positive impact on human health and the environment.
• Direct reduced business operating costs associated with the purchase,
handling, disposal, and cleanup of toxic chemicals and reduced need, and
therefore cost, to install control technologies to control their emissions.
• Human capacity building—development or growth of industries that support
projects related to toxic chemical reduction.
• Technology transfer and productivity enhancement—new technologies and
manufacturing techniques through the exploration of process improvements.
• Positive company publicity from being environmentally conscientious and
associated increased revenue.
• Reduced regulatory burden (reduced company and regulatory agency engineering labor hours as well as other associated savings) by reducing the
usage of toxic chemicals.
• Other benefits, such as the establishment of spin-off or demonstration projects.
In this chapter, we evaluate these costs and benefits of setting up a market-based
toxic chemical usage reduction program.
COSTS OF THE PROGRAM
The European Commission (2006) did an analysis of the costs for setting up the
Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) program. The
costs of running the REACH program were estimated at 0.4 billion euros over 11 y
rs
(cost of establishing and running the program). The costs of registration, including
275
Costs and Benefits
INTRODUCTION
Implementing a program to reduce the usage of toxic chemicals will entail costs to
• Set up and administer the program (by federal and administrative agencies)
• Analyze, report on, and pay fees for usage of the chemicals (by companies)
Implementing a program to reduce the usage of toxic chemicals will also have
associated economic and other benefits, consisting of
• Health benefits and reduced costs associated with reduced toxic chemical
usage and, hence, exposure via direct releases and through use of products
themselves.
• Environmental impacts. The ultimate goal of a toxic chemical reduction
program is to have a positive impact on human health and the environment.
• Direct reduced business operating costs associated with the purchase,
handling, disposal, and cleanup of toxic chemicals and reduced need, and
therefore cost, to install control technologies to control their emissions.
• Human capacity building—development or growth of industries that support
projects related to toxic chemical reduction.
• Technology transfer and productivity enhancement—new technologies and
manufacturing techniques through the exploration of process improvements.
• Positive company publicity from being environmentally conscientious and
associated increased revenue.
• Reduced regulatory burden (reduced company and regulatory agency engineering labor hours as well as other associated savings) by reducing the
usage of toxic chemicals.
• Other benefits, such as the establishment of spin-off or demonstration projects.
In this chapter, we evaluate these costs and benefits of setting up a market-based
toxic chemical usage reduction program.
COSTS OF THE PROGRAM
The European Commission (2006) did an analysis of the costs for setting up the
Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH) program. The
costs of running the REACH program were estimated at 0.4 billion euros over 11 y
rs
(cost of establishing and running the program). The costs of registration, including
275