THE EMISSIONS-TOJOBS RATIO BY PAUL H. TEMPLET
T
echniques for evaluating a state' progress in pollution contro were enhanced by the publica tion of the first Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) in 1989 ( I ) . As required by Section 313 of the Emergency Pianning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (Title 111 of the Superfund Amendments), the TRI contains reports on 328 toxic chemicals discharged to the air, land, and water. For the first time. mean- , ingful comparisons could be made of the levels of discharges among states, industry types, facilities, and environmental media. The data provide an impetus for states high on t h e TRI emissions list to implement I programs and policies to lower emissions, and they give citizens facts to use when demanding accountability of pollution control agencies. However, measuring gross emissions by facility, industry, county, region, or state says more about the type of industry, mix of industries, and level of industrialization within a county or state than it does about the effectiveness of a state's pollution control programs and policies. Therefore, a method of discriminatingamong pollution control strategies and policies is needed. This paper presents a method for normalizing the 1990 TRI data (2)so that comparisons can be made among facilities, industries, ani' states by pollution control manag ers, environmental professionals, the regulated community, and the public. The method determines the number of pounds of emissions per
A TOOL tOR EVALUATlNG POLLUTION CONTROL PROGRAMS
810 Environ. Sci. Technoi., Vol. 27, No. 5, 1993
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job (the E/J ratio) in a given industry and location. Currently no other objective standards are available for evaluating policies and programs. I used an E/J ratio in an “environmental scorecard” developed and implemented in Louisiana to modify a facility’stax exemptions (3) because it focused attention on two goals the state was trying to achieve: lower emissions and more jobs. Louisiana grants property tax exemptions to new or expanding industries, and the environmental score, if poor Le., a high E/J ratio), could decrease the amount of the exemption. An added incentive for using the E/J ratio is that a regression analysis conducted across the 50 states shows that decreases in the amount of emissions per job are related to increases in the environmental and economic quality of the state and to a decrease in energy use ( 4 ) .
A national perspective The E/J ratio varies across the 50 states and by Standard Industrial Classification (SIC, a federal classification system that assigns numbers to types of industries). Employment data are taken from Census Bureau publications (5, 6).A state’s ratio is determined by the mix and extent of various types of industry. For that reason it is instructive to examine the chemical industry (SIC 28) alone because it contributes 44% of US.TRI emissions. Figure 1 shows those states with a high proportion of the country’s chemical industry emissions and more than 12,000 chemical industry jobs. As the graph indicates, there is wide variation in the E/J ratio for the chemical industry: it ranges from less than 300 lb per job in California, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania to more than 14,000 lb per job in Louisiana. Some of this variation can be explained by structural differences in the chemical industry in these states because of factors such as automation, bulk chemical production, and nearness to raw materials (oil and gas), but it is unlikely that structural differences alone explain a more than 50-fold difference in the ratio. For example, the five
THEE/J
I U.S.
,for
chemical indust selected statesn New Jersey California
Michigan
Tennessee Florida
-
Texas Alabama Louisiana
5005
0
states with E/J ratios above the U.S. average are all in the South, where environmental policies traditionally have been weak (7). A linear regression of the E/J ratio with the “Green Policy Score” (7)across the 19 states shown in Figure 1 is positive and significant (Rz = 0.24,p = 0.0321, indicating that the qnality of a state’s environmental policies is important in lowering the E/1 ratio. (Note: A hiah policy score m e a n s poorer policies, hence the positive relationship.)
RATIO VARIES ACROSS THE 50 STATES AND BY STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION.
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The Louisiana E/J ratio As Figure 1indicates, Louisiana’s chemical industry E/J ratio is the highest in the United States. (For all manufacturing [SIC 20-391, Louisiana’s E/J ratio is about 2500 lb per
job.) A more detailed review of the chemical industry EIJ ratio provides information on the sectors in need of improvement. Figure 2 contains the 1990 Louisiana and US.E/J ratios for chemical industry subdivisions that have been assigned threeand four-digit SIC codes. Clearly, the Louisiana industrial inorganic chemicals sector (SIC 281, with approximately 36,000 lb per job) and the agricultural chemicals sector (SIC 287, with approximately 47,000lb per job) are the largest dischargers relative to the U.S. average and to the Louisiana SIC 28 average of 14,108. An additional level of detail is available by extending the analysis to four SIC digits. The nitrogenous (SIC 2873) and phosphatic (2874) fertilizer sectors and industrial inorganic chemical (SIC 2819) E/J ratios are substantially above the US. average. The major agricultural chemical producers have announced plans to reduce emissions Environ. Sci. Technol., Vol. 27, No. 5. 1993 811
in Louisiana significantly. [It is not yet clear whether Louisiana SIC 281 companies are planning significant reductions.) The analysis also can be carried out by determining the ElJ ratio for each medium [air, land, water, and soil) for a state and comparing the results with national averages. In Louisiana, the high discharges, relative to U.S. averages, are to air, surface water, and groundwater. The analysis can also be carried out over time. Since 1987 the Louisiana chemical industry E/J ratio has decreased from approximately 30,000 lb per job to the current 14,108,or about 5%, while the U S . chemical industry E/J ratio has declined from 34,161 to 1859 lb per job, or 46%, in the same period. New areas for analysis The availability of detailed, yearly emission and employment data has opened up areas for analysis that can be used to evaluate numerous aspects of pollution control. Standardizing emissions data through the use of the E/J ratio allows interested parties to evaluate the efficiency of a state, facility, or industry in processing materials and reducing emissions relative to other states, industry types, or the nation. Standardization provides independent guidance to program managers in pollution control agencies who seek a means of differentiating those who are doing an adequate job of pollution control from those who are not. In Louisiana a pollution reduction program that focused on reducing discharges to air, surface water, and groundwater by the SIC 281 and 287 sectors would yield the greatest reductions in TRI emissions and probably at the least cost. The alternative is to attempt reductions across the board, which may not be as effective and may put unnecessary burdens on those segments of the industry that already are doing a good job of controlling emissions. A refinement of the ratio would account for risk factors, such as carcinogenic air pollutants, that may pose the highest risk to citizens but would not necessarily stand out in the E/J analysis unless risk was factored in. Evaluation can encourage effective policies and proper functioning in state regulatory programs and is important for environmental and economic reasons. The E/J ratio can help promote equitable and effective environmental management. 812 Environ. Sci. Technol.. Vol. 27.No. 5,1993
FIG1
1990 emissions per job for various chemical industry sectors' in Louisiana vs. the United States Industrial inorganic (281) Alkali and chlorine (2812) Industrial inorganic chemicals (2819) Agricultural chemicals (287) n
E
2 Nitrogenous fertilizers(2873) 0
z
-
Phosphatic fertilizers (2874)
-
Miscellaneous chemical products (289)
(n
II
Adhesives and sealants (2891) Carbon black (2895) Chemical preparations (2899) Petroleum refining (2911)
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Acknowledmnent 'The suthur acknuwledges the wmputcr netwurk K l K NET of OMB Watch. Washington, DC, for providing on-line access to the EPA Toxics Release Inventory database.
References
DC, 1991;Bulletin 2393. Survey of Manufacturers, Geographic Area Statistics; U S Bureau of the Census. U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics Administration: Washington, DC, 1992. (7) Hall, B.: Kern, M. L. Green Index, Institute for Southern Studies, Durham, N C Island Press: Washington. DC, (6) 1990 Annual
1992.
(1) The Toxics Release Znventoly, A Na-
(2)
(31 (41
(5)
tional Perspective: US. Environmental Protection Agency. U S . Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1989 EPA-56014-8-005. Toxics in the Community, National and Local Perspectives, The 1990 Toxics-Release Inventory National Reporf: US. Environmental Protection Agency. U S . Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1992; EPA 700-S-92-002. Templet, P. H.:Glenn, J.: Farber, S. Environmental Finance 1991, Autumn. 271-77. Templet, P. H.: Farber, S.; Ecological Economics. in Dress. Employment a i d Wages Annual Averages, 1990;US.Bureau of the Census. U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics: Washington,
Paul H. Templet is an associnte professor a t L o u i s i a n a Stnte University's Institute for Environmental Studies. He has an M.S. degree i n p h y s i c a l c hem is fry^ f r o m I )uke Uni'versity nnd a PJ5.D. in chemical physics from Louisiana State University. His resenrch interests ore in economiLenvimnmental interactions, program evaluation, pollution prevention, a n d policy analysis. Templet was Secretory of the Louisiann Department ofEnvironmenta1 Quality from March 1988 to January 1992.
