Overview
- The agency will no longer assign monetary values to health benefits from reducing fine particulate matter and ozone, instead monetizing only industry compliance costs.
- EPA leaders say health effects will still be weighed qualitatively, with Administrator Lee Zeldin rejecting claims that the agency is ignoring lives saved.
- A newly finalized NOx standard for gas turbines reflects the change, as its analysis omitted monetized health benefits and the rule is less stringent than a prior proposal.
- Public-health scientists warn the policy could weaken protections and increase pollution-related illness and premature deaths, with disproportionate impacts on vulnerable communities.
- Legal and policy experts cite potential court challenges and note the Clean Air Act context, while past EPA analyses had shown large quantified gains, such as up to 4,500 premature deaths avoided under tighter PM2.5 limits.