Science Inventory

Measuring the social benefits of water quality improvements to support regulatory objectives: Progress and future directions

Citation:

Moore, Christopher, J. Corona, C. Griffiths, Matthew Heberling, J. Hewitt, D. Keiser, C. Kling, David Massey, M. Papenfus, D. Phaneuf, D. Smith, C. Vossler, AND W. Wheeler. Measuring the social benefits of water quality improvements to support regulatory objectives: Progress and future directions. PNAS (PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES). National Academy of Sciences, WASHINGTON, DC, 120(18):e2120247120, (2023). https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2120247120

Impact/Purpose:

In 2015, the U.S. EPA issued a request for applications (RFA) for interdisciplinary nonmarket valuation studies assessing water quality improvements. The purpose was to improve estimates of benefits across multiple types of water resources and help address the potential underestimation of total benefits in meeting the objectives of the Clean Water Act. In response to the RFA, EPA awarded funding to six multi-institutional teams. In addition to the funding, EPA also encouraged collaboration and sharing of methodological advances across the teams with the goal to increase the collective impact of the six studies and enhance their ability to inform local and national decisions on water quality. The articles in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Special Feature on “The Clean Water Act After 50 Years: Innovations in Measuring the Social Benefits of Water Quality for Research and Policy” provide key results from the studies funded under the RFA by academic researchers and closely related original research by EPA analysts and scientists. The goal of the Special Feature is to communicate to the broader research community the evolving data, methods, and evidence of reliability of nonmarket valuation methods, the role of this information in encouraging transparent government decision making, and the general lessons learned from each study and the collaboration among teams.

Description:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) relies on nonmarket valuation studies to evaluate Clean Water Act regulations and satisfy Presidential Executive Orders that require benefit-cost analysis of significant regulations. The papers presented in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Special Feature on “The Clean Water Act After 50 Years: Innovations in Measuring the Social Benefits of Water Quality for Research and Policy” respond to a recent call for new research to address methodological gaps and improve EPA’s ability to estimate benefits from water quality improvements. This introductory paper to the Special Feature will provide a historical perspective by reviewing advances in nonmarket valuation fostered by EPA support, describe the three priority areas in the recent call for new research, highlight the efforts and their valuable contributions to address those priorities, and identify the persistent and emerging challenges that will require future research.