Environmental justice implications of a cost-benefit analysis mandate in the federal environmental regulatory approval process

In recent years, policymakers have proposed actions to increase use of economic evaluation methods in environmental decisionmaking processes. More stringent application of cost-benefit analysis in environmental regulatory approval processes is one application of economic evaluation that has been promoted by federal legislators. This research is an examination of use of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) in the environmental regulatory approval process, to the extent that CBA results are ultimate determinants of regulatory fate for all proposed major environmental regulations. Use of cost-benefit analysis in environmental decisionmaking, and limitations of CBA in its application to environmental subjects, have been studied extensively. This study examines specifically environmental justice implications of CBA use in environmental regulatory approval processes.; The major vehicle for examination of CBA use in environmental regulatory approval processes is formal policy analysis of the Risk Assessment and Cost-Benefit Act of 1995 (RACBA) via the Fischer policy evaluation method (Fischer Method). The RACBA proposes use of CBA in environmental decisionmaking such that all proposed major environmental regulations are subject to cost-benefit analysis. Furthermore, the RACBA requires use of CBA results to the extent that regulatory approval is ultimately determined by CBA-based criteria. Four discursive phases of the Fischer Method allow for empirical and normative evaluation of the RACBA within situational and societal contexts.; It was concluded that use of CBA in environmental regulatory approval processes has limitations with significant environmental justice implications. Application of each evaluative phase of the Fischer Method to the RACBA resulted in identification of problems and limitations of CBA use in analysis of environmental subjects.{09}Evaluation of the RACBA allowed for identification of environmental justice implications directly attributable to use of CBA as a bottom-line decisionmaking tool in environmental regulatory approval process. Environmental justice implications were repeatedly found to relate to monetization and time discounting processes applied in CBA.