&EPA
Unitedj'pates
Environmental Protection
Agency
EPA420-K-97-001
August 1997
. http://www.epa.gov
Office of Air and Radiation
Market Incentives
Resource Center
Online Directory of
Air Quality Economic
Incentive Programs
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tiovernment agencies nationwide increasingly
use economic incentives to promote reduc-
tions in air pollution from mobile, station-
ary, and area sources. Market-based
programs are designed to lower compliance costs,
reward technological innovation, and provide some
flexibility for the regulated community. The expand-
ing array of initiatives at the local, state, and regional
level demonstrates the widespread interest in such air
quality management approaches, which can offer an
alternative to programs based on regulation or a
means of supplementing more traditional programs.
EPA has collected information about the many pro-
gram applications of economic incentives into a central
repository that can be easily accessed by government,
industry, and the general public through the Market
Incentives Resource Center (MIRC). The goal of the
center is to facilitate information exchange on market
incentive programs
throughout the country.
The MIRC Directory of
Air Quality Economic
Incentive Programs is
part of an ongoing effort
undertaken by EPA's
Office of Mobile Sources
(QMS) and Office of Air
Quality Planning and
Standards (OAQPS) to
make program-specific
information widely avail-
www.epa.gov/omswww/market.htm
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able. This information about existing and developing
programs will be especially useful at the local level
when assessing options for an appropriate air quality
management approach.
The of
on
[he use of market incentives encourages
private firms and individuals to conserve
environmental resources while acting in
their own economic self-interest. For exam-
ple, typical programs rely on marketable credits or
allowances, equipment buy-backs, or fees to induce
environmentally beneficial action.
Policymakers have found that for certain market sec-
tors such programs present a useful alternative to the
traditional command-and-control approach. Also,
market-based programs often can be attractive in
terms of lower administration costs and financial
burdens on businesses.
Given the challenges of enforcing
a regulatory scheme,
incentive programs offer
particular advantages
in a marketplace that is
increasingly characterized
by diversity in industrial
processes and the mix of
products. The use of market
incentives for air quality
management is encouraged
in the Clean Air Act
Amendments of 1990 and is
Market Incentives Resource Center
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the subject of two recent regulatory initiatives: the
Economic Incentives Program Rules and Guidance
(promulgated in 1994) and the Open Market Trading
Guidance (proposed in 1995).
Through the MIRC, EPA is disseminating current'
information about, air quality management programs
that are based on economic incentives to facilitate
more widespread application of this approach. The
MIRC Directory is intended to serve both as a tool
for local officials designing programs that harness
market forces to benefit the environment and as
a means by which members of the regulated com-
munity can learn about program options in their
particular area.
Ihe MIRC Directory is a catalog of air quality
program summaries that resides on the World
Wide Web (www.epa.gov/omswww/
markethtm). The directory includes informa-
tion on mobile, stationary, and area source programs
that can be accessed and viewed online using web
browser software. (The directory is designed so that it
can be accessed with the wide variety of browsers cur-
rently in use. The most recent version of a particular
browser, however, may offer a measure of graphic
enhancement.)
Examples of mobile source initiatives are programs
based on transportation pricing, emissions credit
trading, and fleet vehicle buy-back or scrappage.
Stationary and area source programs emphasize
such inducements as the banking and trading of
emissions allowances, emissions reduction credits,
or discrete emissions reductions.
www.epa.gov/omswww/market.htm
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'i-
One of EPA's objectives in developing the MIRO""
Directory was" to capture information on the full
spectrum of air quality economic incentive programs.
As a result, the directory includes summaries of pro-
grams at various stages of development and imple-
mentation. Program summaries present information
as provided by program authorities, however, and
the inclusion of a summary in the directory does not
imply endorsement by EPA.
The directory organizes program summaries into
general categories. To access information about a
particular type of program from the directory's main
screen, the user can select from a menu of program
categories. Selecting the target sources category, for
instance, accesses a list of source categories (mobile,
stationary, and area). The user can then click on the
triangular pointer to the left of a category entry to
access an alphabetical listing by state of all programs
in the directory that focus on that particular source.
Clicking on an entry in the program list opens the
summary.
By Program Title
By Program Location
By Authority/Sponsor
By Program Type
By Incentive Type
By Target Sources
By Target Pollutants
By Program Purpose
For more information on market-based incentive programs, visit these other sites:
• The International Council for Local Environmental Incentives
>*•• The MIRC Directory's main screen presents a menu of program
listings by general categories.
Market Incentives Resource Center
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Each program summary identifies the title, location,
authority or sponsoring agency, and contact for the.
initiatives Users can send a message to the program
contact by clicking on the e-mail address listed in the
summary's header. Summaries also provide informa-
tion describing the type of program and incentive, the
targeted sources and pollutants, the program's pur-
pose, and'its notable features. The summary's header
also indicates when the program information was last
updated.
Program Location:
Auxiliary or Sponsor:
Contact Name & Phone:
Contact E-Mail:
Authority/Sponsor Type:
Notes:
Illinois
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency
Gale Newton, (217) 785-5735
contact@epa.state.il.us
State Government
Final rules have been written; will soon be submitted to Illinois Pollution Control Board
for review and promulgation.
Program Type(s):
Banking and Trading
• Cap-and-Trade/Budget
On-Highway Technology
p^ The header of each IVilRC Directory program summary lists key
information.
The MIRC Directory also includes a full-text search
engine, which allows the user to access information
about economic incentive programs based on key-
words or phrases. To access the search screen, the
user would click on the magnifying glass icon that
appears throughout the directory after a selection has
been made from the main screen. The search screen
includes features that allow the user to refine the
search and organize the results according to prefer-
www.epa.gov/otnswww/market.htm
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ence. The user can further specify the search results
"by using basic structured query language (e.g., use
more than one keyword or phrase connected by AND
or OR).
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The MIRC Directory includes a search engine for accessing program
summaries by a specific topic.
ecause developments in air quality economic
incentive programs are ongoing, MIRC staff
will update the directory regularly. New
information from users is welcome. A blank
program description template can be downloaded from
the Updating the Directory section of the site's main
screen, filled out, and sent directly to the MIRC using
the site's e-mail feature (oms-mkt-inc@epamail.epa.gov)
for inclusion in the directory. Also, users of the directory
can e-mail feedback to MIRC staff on the utility of the
directory.
Market Incentives Resource Center
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|s-
nother feature of the MIRC Directory web
site is that it includes links from its main
screen to other web sites related to market-
abased incentive programs. The MIRC staff
will add additional links over time. Users of the
directory can e-mail MIRC staff with suggestions
about useful links to include.
| he MIRC Directory is posted as a link from
the Office of Mobile Sources' homepage
at www.epa.gov/omswww/market.htm.
For more information about the Market
Incentives Resource Center and the MIRC
Directory, call 313-668-4333 or. send an e-mail to
oms-mkt-inc@epamail.epa.gov
www.epa.gov/omswww/market.htm
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&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Air and Radiation
Ann Arbor, Ml 48105
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
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