A new study led by Penn State reveals coal-fired power plants emitted higher levels of particulate matter during the 2018-19 government shutdown, emphasizing the importance of continuous environmental monitoring and enforcement.
Power plants may emit higher levels of pollution during lapses in federal monitoring and enforcement, such as during government shutdowns, according to a new study led by The Pennsylvania State University.
The study, published in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, examines the immediate effects of federal environmental law enforcement on air emissions from power plants.
The researchers used the 35-day government shutdown of 2018-19 as a natural experiment. They found that coal-fired power plants increased their daily emissions of particulate matter during the furlough of federal employees.
Particulate matter consists of tiny solid particles and liquid droplets suspended in the air, which can have significant health impacts when inhaled.
“Interruptions in inspections and enforcement have the potential to trigger immediate environmental and health consequences,” lead author Ruohao Zhang, an assistant professor of agricultural economics at Penn State, said in a news release. “Moving forward, policies should ensure stable inspection capacity, minimize enforcement gaps and expand continuous emission monitoring.”
The study showed no detectable increase in emissions of sulfur dioxide or nitrogen oxides. The likely reason, Zhang explained, is the continuous monitoring by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Air Markets Division since 1995, which was not interrupted by the shutdown.
The EPA is pivotal in ensuring compliance with federal environmental laws, with monitoring and enforcement as a primary responsibility. However, the agency has faced shrinking budgets and a reduction in enforcement staff, leading to fewer inspections over time.
“This reduction in monitoring and enforcement raises concerns about the weakening of regulatory stringency and environmental compliance,” added Zhang. “We wanted to investigate the effect of reduced monitoring and enforcement efforts on firms’ pollution and compliance with environmental regulations.”
Collecting data from several sources, the researchers analyzed daily power plant emissions and operations, using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the EPA’s Air Market Program.
On analyzing the period before and after the EPA furlough, the team discovered a significant increase in the aerosol concentration of particulate matter around the power plants. Aerosol optical depth, a measure of atmospheric aerosols, increased by 0.018-0.022 within a three-kilometer radius of the plants during the shutdown.
Even minor increases in pollution can adversely affect human health. This underscores the importance of inspections and enforcement in mitigating pollution.
“Studies have shown that even short-lived increases in particulate matter have the potential to worsen public health outcomes,” Zhang added. “Evidence links small increases of fine particulate matter with diameters of 2.5 micrometers or less to higher mortality risks.”
Huan Li of North Carolina A&T State University and Neha Khanna of Binghamton University co-authored the study.