Regulatory and Policy Development Perspective

1
Regulatory and Policy Development Perspective

• Linc Wehrly, US EPA
• September 24, 2003
• Seattle, Washington InLCA/LCM 2003

2
Steps in Decision-Making Process

• Congress empowers EPA to set regulations through
  the Clean Air Act (CAA)
• CAA is made up of numerous sections and statutes
  that pertain to different emission sources (e.g.,
  stationary, mobile sources, highway, nonroad)
• Highway vehicles and engines fall under section
  202
• Section 202(a)(3) requires ..the greatest degree
  of emission reduction available giving
  appropriate consideration to cost, energy, and
  safety.

3
Tools Used in Decision Making

• Technology Assessment
• Cost Analysis
• Fixed costs (e.g., RD, tooling, certification)
• Variable costs (e.g., hardware fuel changes)
• MOBILE Model
• Tailpipe emission factors
• Emission inventories (EF, population, VMT, etc.)
• baseline
• control
• Cost Effectiveness (e.g., cost per ton)
• Air Quality Analysis
• Benefits Analysis

4
Information Needs

• Emission control technology and strategies
• Emission test results
• Emission technology costs (i.e., hardware)
• Model inputs
• Population
• estimated sales
• registrations
• VMT
• surveys
• studies

5
Insights Gained

• As new, cleaner advanced technologies become more
  prevalent, it becomes more important to
  understand the emission implications of large
  scale switches in technology and fuels
• For example, energy and emission implications of
  switch to hydrogen and/or biofuel may be large
• Hydrogen and Biofuel production pathways are very
  different from conventional petroleum
• Hybrid and Fuel Cell Vehicles
• Not considering the big picture may lead to wrong
  policy and regulatory decisions
• Life-cycle analysis could be very beneficial