EPA stops monetizing lives and health savings from air pollution rules

The EPA announced it will stop monetizing the health and monetary benefits of reducing PM2.5 and ozone and will instead focus on industry compliance costs and emissions quantification. Undetermined at this time.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced it will stop assigning monetary values to health benefits — such as avoided medical costs and prevented deaths — tied to limits on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone. The agency said it will continue to estimate costs to businesses and to quantify emissions while it refines its economic methodologies. The decision is part of a broader shift under the Trump administration toward prioritizing industry costs in regulatory analyses and follows legal challenges to a Biden-era tighter PM2.5 standard. Environmental and public health groups criticized the change and spoke publicly about its implications. Key points: - The EPA stated it "will not be monetizing the impacts at this time" for PM2.5 and ozone and will continue work to refine economic methods, a spokesperson said. - The agency will continue to estimate compliance costs for businesses and to quantify emissions even while it pauses monetizing health benefits. - Under the Biden administration, EPA had estimated a proposed PM2.5 rule could prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays by 2032; those monetized benefits are no longer being calculated in current analyses. - The EPA issued a final rule that weakens some nitrogen oxide (NOx) limits for new gas-burning turbines and did not estimate the economic value of related health benefits, which drew criticism from environmental groups. Summary: The policy change removes monetized valuations of lives and avoided healthcare costs for PM2.5 and ozone while keeping industry cost estimates and emissions quantification. Critics say the change reduces how health benefits are counted in regulatory decisions. Undetermined at this time.