After Implementation: Impacts and Effects of Federal Environmental Regulations
A webinar examining the impacts and effects of the federal government's environmental implementations.
Event Details
After the federal government implements environmental regulations, credible retrospective analysis can be conducted to determine the efficacy of their impacts, evaluate their costs, and illuminate any unintended or adverse outcomes.
On February 13, 2025, Resources for the Future (RFF) hosted an all-day, virtual presentation that builds off of the October 2024 webinar “Environmental Justice in Regulatory Decisionmaking” and the 2022 workshop “Looking Back: Using Retrospective Analysis to Improve Federal Environmental Regulation.”
Using “ex post” analysis, the presentation featured scholars as they examined a variety of rules affecting major industrial sectors and proposed possible arrangements to more consistently embed retrospective analysis within federal agencies’ standard practice.
Speakers
- Michael Livermore, Research Professor of Law, University of Virginia
- Cary Coglianese, Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science; Director, Penn Program on Regulation, University of Pennsylvania
- Art Fraas, Visiting Fellow, RFF
- John Graham, Professor of Risk Analysis and Decision Science, Indiana University
- Maureen Cropper, Professor of Economics and Senior Fellow, University of Maryland and RFF
- Lucija Muehlenbachs, Professor of Economics and Fellow, University of Calgary and RFF
- Jiameng Zheng, Assistant Professor of Natural Resource Economics, Louisiana State University
- Randall Lutter, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute
- Dick Morgenstern, Senior Fellow, RFF
- Nafisa Lohawala, Fellow, RFF
Discussants
- Jeffrey Holmstead, Partner, Co-Head of Environmental Strategies Group, Bracewell LLP
- Carl Pasurka, Former Economist, Environmental Protection Agency
- Alan Krupnick, Senior Fellow, RFF
- Dennis Guignet, Assistant Professor of Economics, Appalachian State University
- Lala Ma, University Fellow, RFF
- Stephanie Weber, Assistant Professor of Economics, University of Colorado Boulder
Agenda
10:00 a.m. – Welcome and Overview
10:20 a.m. – Session 1 | Institutional Framework Papers
- “Congress’s Role in Promoting Environmental Policy Evaluation” by Emma DeAngeli (RFF) and Michael Livermore (UVa)
- “Policy Lessons from Past Retrospective Analyses of Regulation” by Cary Coglianese (U of Penn)
- “Administrative Initiatives to Advance Retrospective Analysis” by Art Fraas (RFF)
- Comments by Jeffrey Holmstead (Bracewell LLC)
11:40 a.m. – Audience Q&A
11:50 a.m. – Break
12:00 p.m. – Session 2 | Keynote w/ John Graham (Indiana University) and Q&A
12:30 p.m. – Break
12:50 p.m. – Session 3 | Quantitative Papers
- “Geographic Resolution in Environmental Policy: EPA's Shift from Regions to Counties Under the Clean Air Act” Maureen Cropper (University of Maryland and RFF), Mengjia Hu (University of Maryland), Nick Muller (Carnegie Mellon University), and Yongjoon Park (University of Massachusetts, Amherst).
- Comments by Carl Pasurka plus Q & A
- “Secondary Pollution in Energy Production: The Case of Ozone and the NOx Budget Program”, Lala Ma, (University of Kentucky), Lucija Muelenbachs (University of Calgary and RFF)
- Comments by Alan Krupnick plus audience Q & A
- “Retrospective Benefit-cost Analysis of a Controversial Rule: Reducing Arsenic in U.S. Drinking Water” Wes Austin (US EPA); Mary Evans (University of Texas at Austin); Sheila Olmstead, (Cornell University) of Texas at Austin.
- “Effects of Childhood exposure to Lead and TSP on adult personality” Art Fraas (RFF), Randall Lutter (Manhattan Institute), Joshua Murphy (Finance Canada), Qinrui Xiahou (University of Hong Kong), Jeff Potter (Enveritas), Sam Gosling (University of Texas, Austin).
- Comments by Dennis Guignet (Appalachian State) on both drinking water and lead papers plus audience Q & A
3:00 p.m. – Break
3:10 p.m. – Quantitative Papers continued
- “Environmental Justice Analyses at EPA” Emma DeAngeli (RFF), Dick Morgenstern (RFF), Burçin Ünel (NYU), Ann Wolverton (EPA)
- Comments by Lala Ma (University of Kentucky) plus audience Q & A
3:50 p.m. – Break
4:00 p.m. – Quantitative Papers continued
- “Retrospective Analysis of Medium and Heavy-Duty Vehicle Tailpipe Nitrogen Oxides Emissions Standards” Joshua Linn (RFF), Nafisa Lohawala (RFF), and Beia Spiller (RFF)
- Comments by Stephanie Weber (University of Colorado, Boulder) plus audience Q&A
4:20 p.m. – Audience Q&A
4:35 p.m. – Closing
Participants
Carl Pasurka
Former Economist, Environmental Protection Agency
