United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-02-21 monographic deposited born digital 49 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-283 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-283 P0b002ee1803a042c f:d01283 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-283 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-283 GAO-01-283 Environmental monitoring Pollution control Toxic substances Reporting requirements Environmental law Industrial facilities Industrial pollution Agency proceedings EPA Acid Rain Program EPA Project XL EPA Pollution Prevention in Permitting Program EPA Pollution Prevention Incentives for States EPA State and Territorial Air Pollution Program EPA Toxic Release Inventory Chapter Report Limited quantitative data exists on the extent to which American industry has sought to use pollution prevention methods to reduce pollutants discharged from its facilities. This shortcoming has inhibited the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) efforts to monitor and encourage companies' use of pollution prevention measures. Whether to undertake pollution prevention is typically a business decision that is influenced largely by a company's judgment as to whether an investment in pollution prevention will benefit it financially. One notable exception is the design of environmental regulations, some of which have had the unintended consequence of discouraging pollution prevention practices. In some cases, the EPA may have no means to address them. The design of some regulations may be constrained by their governing statutes. In other cases, EPA may be better able to take the national goal of promoting pollution prevention into consideration in developing its regulatory proposals. The Pollution Prevention Act requires EPA to review its regulatory proposals to determine their effects on source reduction. However, the agency has not systematically tracked the implementation of this provision, and therefore does not know the extent to which source reduction has been considered in the promulgation of EPA regulations. While it may be impossible to promote pollution prevention in all of the agency's regulations, a greater awareness of these practices in the agency's rulemaking process can help significantly to further this important goal. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-283/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-283.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-283/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-283.pdf GAO-01-283 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-283 Chapter Report GAO-01-283; Environmental Protection: EPA Should Strengthen Its; Environmental monitoring Pollution control Toxic substances Reporting requirements Environmental law Industrial facilities Industrial pollution Agency proceedings EPA Acid Rain Program EPA Project XL EPA Pollution Prevention in Permitting Program EPA Pollution Prevention Incentives for States EPA State and Territorial Air Pollution Program EPA Toxic Release Inventory