{"id":334748,"date":"2026-01-12T17:41:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T22:41:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/?post_type=to4_article_post&p=334748"},"modified":"2026-01-13T13:40:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T18:40:13","slug":"epa-no-longer-considering-lives-saved-in-pollution-rules-only-cost-to-business","status":"publish","type":"to4_article_post","link":"https:\/\/truthout.org\/articles\/epa-no-longer-considering-lives-saved-in-pollution-rules-only-cost-to-business\/","title":{"rendered":"EPA No Longer Considering Lives Saved in Pollution Rules, Only Cost to Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now only counting costs to businesses when considering regulation on key pollutants, internal documents show, rather than considering human lives saved by such caps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the first time in decades of the practice, The New York Times<\/em> reports<\/a>, the EPA will effectively set the cost of a human life at $0 when doing cost-benefit analysis for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) or ozone pollution \u2014 two air pollutants that can cause<\/a> lifelong respiratory<\/a> issues and are estimated to cause tens of thousands of premature deaths every year in the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An email by a supervisor reported by the Times<\/em>, as well as a rule<\/a> posted online Monday by the agency, says that there are \u201cuncertainties\u201d associated with monetized impacts of the two pollutants \u2014 seemingly using the concept of uncertainty in scientific analysis in order to discard public health regulations estimated to have saved hundreds of thousands, if not millions<\/a>, of lives.<\/p>

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