The expense and inconvenience of enhanced vehicle emissions testing using the full 240-second dynamometer test has led states to search for ways to shorten the test process. In fact, all states that currently use the IM240 allow some type of fast-pass, usually as early in the test as second 31,...

This paper examines the current assignment of liability for in-use vehicle emissions and suggests some alternative policies that may reduce the cost and increase the effectiveness. We first discuss the cost, performance and incentives under current Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) programs,...

This paper examines the behavioral and stochastic aspects of modeling emission reductions from vehicle Inspection and Maintenance (I/M) programs. Forecasts of the potential emission reductions from such programs have been modeled by the use of the Environmental Protection Agency's MOBILE Model,...

Regulation of mobile source emissions in the US has evolved as a complex combination of central government and decentralized authority. The central government required uniform new car emissions standards in the 1970 Clean Air Act, but gave states the power to meet ambient air quality standards...

Many economists see current land use patterns as inefficient due to various market failures, and planners argue that current patterns do not follow sound planning practice. One policy of interest to both groups is transferable development rights (TDR). TDRs allow the development rights from land...

This paper explores the influence of the behavior of the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management on effective public policy toward the national forests. It shows that fluctuations in stumpage sales from such forests have been large. Furthermore, those fluctuations could well have a...

This study compares ex ante estimates of the direct costs of individual regulations to ex post assessments of the same regulations. Our review of more than two dozen environmental and occupational safety regulations indicates that ex ante estimates of total (direct) costs have tended to exceed...

In this study we use datasets from the 1995 and 2000 Community Water Supply surveys to examine the production costs of water supply systems. We first estimate the economies of scale in water supply by estimating the total unit cost as well as individual component cost elasticities. For total...

The Congestion Mitigation/Air Quality Program (CMAQ), established in 1991 by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) to provide about $1 billion per year to fund transportation projects that improve air quality, is intended both to support traditional transportation control...

Transportation authorities have consistently failed to employ economic incentives on major roadways--i.e. time-of-day pricing or "congestion fees"--to internalize the costs of congestion. In principle at least, such tolls can easily be shown to increase social welfare by making motorists pay...