Hazardous Air Pollutants Benefits Assessment: Houston-Galveston Case Study

Section 812 of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to perform periodic, comprehensive analyses of the total costs and total benefits of programs implemented pursuant to the Clean Air Act (CAA). The first analysis required was a retrospective analysis, addressing the original CAA and covering the period of1970. The retrospective analysis was completed in 1997. EPA's Office of Air and Radiation (OAR) is now working on a second prospective study.looking at the period from 1990 to 2020. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a benzene emissions inventory in the Houston, Texas, area as part of a case study for the second prospective study.