Affiliations: [a] RTI International, P.O. Box 13194, Research Triangle
Park, NC 27709, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
| [b] U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Center
for Environmental Economics, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (MC 1809T), Washington,
DC 20460, USA
Abstract: This paper presents the results of a comprehensive redevelopment and evaluation
effort led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assess the
accuracy of the responses to the Pollution Abatement Costs and Expenditures
(PACE) survey. The data collected by the PACE survey is important because it is
the only comprehensive source of pollution abatement costs and expenditures
related to environmental protection in the U.S. manufacturing sector. The PACE
Survey has been administered over twenty times since 1973, yet until now, the
accuracy of the survey responses has never been formally evaluated. The methods
used to evaluate the survey include one-on-one interviews and site visits with
manufacturing facilities to develop independent cost estimates which were
compared to reported survey responses. Overall this study finds, assuming a
reasonable margin of error, that the PACE survey responses reflect actual
pollution abatement capital expenditures and operating costs. In addition, these
interactions with facilities had a major impact on the design of the 2005 PACE
survey and are also discussed in this paper.
