Effectiveness of State Pollution Prevention Programs and Policies

Abstract

States are using regulatory‐, information‐, and management‐based policies to encourage the adoption of pollution prevention (P2) and reduce pollution. Using a sample of facilities of S&P 500 firms which report to the Toxic Releases Inventory from 1991 to 2001, this study employs dynamic panel data models to examine the effectiveness of state legislations and policies in increasing P2 and reducing toxic releases. I find that toxic waste legislations are effective in reducing toxic releases and in promoting P2, but the effect of policy instruments differ. Facilities in states with reporting requirement and mandatory planning adopt more P2 even in states that do not emphasize toxic waste reduction. The effectiveness of reporting is stronger among facilities with good environmental performance, while the potency of mandatory planning is greater among facilities with past P2 experience. In contrast, numerical goals reduce toxic pollution levels only among those which have been subjected to high levels of enforcement action. These suggest that reporting requirement and mandatory planning may be promoting the P2 practices which can improve public image and which benefit from enhanced technical know‐how, but they are not causing meaningful pollution reductions, implying that the existing policies must be complemented by other approaches to achieve higher reductions in toxic pollution levels. (JEL Q55, O38, H23)

Evaluating the Regulatory Burden: Pollutant Release and Transfer Reporting Costs

“…A comprehensive study evaluating these benefits on a Czech or European scale has not been developed yet. However, partial studies show a significant positive impact of PRTR introduction (Harrington, 2013;Cañón-de-Francia et al, 2008).…”

“…A positive influence of information disclosure on pollution decrease is demonstrated by the US Toxic Release Inventory (e.g. in Khanna et al, 1998;Harrington, 2013). Cañón-de-Francia et al (2008) use Spanish enterprises within the EPER to demonstrate the penalisation of highly polluting companies listed in the EPER via a fall in their share prices.…”

Crime as Pollution? Theoretical, Definitional and Policy Concerns with Conceptualizing Crime as Pollution

“…In short, the kinds of market-based policies used to control environmental pollution have been well criticized as ineffective, and as a result, some question should be raised about the potential effectiveness of those strategies as crime control responses. Prior studies, for example, suggest that state environmental market mechanisms only reduce offending when high levels of enforcement are also present (Harrington, 2013). The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) own data suggests that market-based controls are ineffective.…”

The role of environmental management systems in the Canadian Voluntary Climate and Challenge Registry

“…Since achieving a Champion level award in the VCR required the adoption of management procedures to particularly address GHG emissions, we evaluate the GHG emissions of EMS adopters against non-EMS adopters in the immediate years after the VCR programme ended controlling for the influence of general environment management systems (ISO 14001) and other factors. As management-based regulations are becoming increasingly popular environmental policy tools in the US and Canada (see Coglianese and Nash 2006;Khanna Deltas, and Harrington 2009;Environment Canada 2012;Harrington 2013), it is important to assess whether the adoption of such management-based tools, even those that are voluntarily adopted, achieve the environmental outcomes that they are designed to accomplish.…”