Authors
Ronnie Levin, Joel Schwartz
Journal
Available at SSRN 4329651
Description
Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) can indicate policies that allocate scarce public resources best. Done incompletely, CBA can produce spurious, biased results. To estimate the potential health benefits of EPA’s recent Lead and Copper Drinking Water Rule Revision (LCRR), we used EPA’s exposure, compliance, and effect coefficient estimates to monetize 15 of the more than 20 health endpoints EPA has determined are causally related to lead exposure. We found that the total annual health benefits of the LCRR greatly exceed EPA’s estimated annual costs: $9 billion vs $500-800 million (2016$). There are also nonhealth benefits because lead generally contaminates drinking water through the corrosion of plumbing components that contain lead. The LCRR therefore has 2 components: replacing lead pipes and reducing how corrosive the water is. Reducing corrosion damage to drinking water and wastewater infrastructure and residential appliances that use water yields significant annualized material benefits also: $2-8 billion (2016$). Effectively, the health benefits are free. In addition, lead-contaminated drinking water exhibits known exposure patterns, disproportionately burdening low-income and minority populations and women. This economic analysis demonstrates that to maximize national benefits and improve equity, the LCRR should be as rigorous as possible.