ENVIRONMENTALPOLICY ANALYSIS
AIR QUALITY
Cost-Benefit and Uncertainty Issues in Using Organic Reactivity to Regulate Urban Ozone SANDRA J. MCBRIDE Department of Statistics Stanford University Stanford,CA94305 MATTHEW A. ORAVETZ Department of Engineering and Public Policy Carnegie Mellon University Pittsburgh, PA 15213 ARMISTEAD G. RUSSELL School of Civil aad Environmental Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, GA A0332-0512
The costs and benefits of urban ozone control strategies based on regulation of ozone-forming potential, or reactivity, of volatile organic carbon (VOC) emissions are quantified using a mixedinteger linear programming model. Optimal regulatory strategies are chosen on the basis of calculated reactivity of source emissions as well as cost and technology constraints. Model results depict the impacts of reactivity-based regulation on overall cost-effectiveness of controls and on prioritization of control technology implementation. The results are robust to uncertainties in reactivity and emission levels. This study suggests how reactivity information can be used to determine the most appropriate, cost-effective control strategies for emission reductions.
Despite considerable federal and state investment in urban ozone control strategies, efforts to attain the National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone have been less successful than anticipated (i). Urban ozone is produced by nonlinear reactions between volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NO.,.). NOx control appears to be effective in rural areas and some cities, but VOC control is effective in large urban areas such as the Los Angeles South Coast Air Basin (SoCAB) and Chicago, which have severe ozone problems. Current federal VOC regulations categorize fill VOC emissions 3.s either re
