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Environ.mental Protection 

Agency 

Office of Air and Radiation 

EPA420-K-97-001 

August 1997 

. http://www.epa.gov 

Market Incentives 

Resource Center 

Online Directory of 

Air Quality Economic 

Incentive Programs 

~ Printed on paper that contains 

'6<:7' at least 20% postconsumer fiber. 

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An EPA Clearinghouse for Program 

Information 

• overnment agencies nationwide increasingly 

use economic incentives to promote reductions in air pollution from mobile, stationary, and area sources. Market-based 

programs are designed to lower compliance costs, 

reward technological innovation, and provide smne 

flexibility for the regulated cmrununity. The expanding array of initiatives at the local, state, and regional 

level demonstrates the widespread interest in such air 

quality management approaches, which can offer an 

alt·ernative to programs based on regulation or a 

means of supplementing more traditional programs. 

EPA has collected information about the many program applications of economic incentives into a central 

repository that can be easily accessed by government, 

industry, and the general public through the Market 

Incentives Resource Center (MIRC). The goal of the 

center is to facilitate infonnation exchange on market 

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incentive programs 

thr<?ughout the country. 

The MIRC Directory of 

Air Quality Economic 

Incentive Progra1ns is 

part of an ongoing effort 

undertaken by EPA's 

Office of Mobile Sources 

(OMS) and Office of Air 

Quality Planning and 

Standards (OAQPS) to 

make program-specific 

information widely avail1 www.epa.govjomswwwjmarket.htm 
able. This information about existing and developing 

programs will be especially usehd at the local level 

when assessing options for an appropriate air quality 

management approach. 

-The Advantages of Programs Based on 

~1arket Incentives 

The use of n1arket incentives encourages 

private firn1s and individuals. to conserve 

environmental resources while acting in 

their own economic self-interest. For example, typical programs rely on marketable credits or 

allowances, equipment buy-backs, or fees to induce 

environn1entally beneficial action. 

Policymakers have found that for certain market sectors such progran1s present a useful alternative to the 

traditional command-and-control approach. Also, 

rnarket-based programs often can be attractive in 

tenns of lower administration costs and financial 

burdens on businesses. 

Given the challenges of enforcing 

a regulatory scheme, 

incentive programs offer 

particular ad vantages 

in a marketplace that is 

increasingly characterized 

by diversity in industrial 

processes and the mix of 

products. The use of market 

incentives for air quality 

management is encouraged 

in the Clean Air Act 

Amendments of 1990 and is 

Market Incentives Resource Center -2 

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the subject of two recent regulatory initiatives: the 

Econmnic Incentives Program Rules and Guidance 

(promulgated in 1994) and the Open Market Trading 

Guidance (proposed in 1995). 

Through the MIRC, EPA is dissen1inating current · 

information about.air quality management programs 

that are based on econmnic incentives to facilitate 

more widespread application of this approach. The 

MIRC Directory is intended to serve both as a tool 

for local officials designing progran1s that harness 

market forces to benefit the environment and as 

a 1neans by which me1nbers of the regulated community can learn about progra1n options in their 

particular area. 

MIRC Directory Content and Use 

he MIRC Directory is a catalog of air quality 

program summaries that resides on the World 

Wide Web (www.epa.gov I omswww I 

market.htm). The directory includes infonnation on n1obile, stationary, and area source programs 

that can be accessed and viewed online using web 

browser software. (The directory is designed so that it 

can be accessed with the wide variety of browsers currently in use. The most recent version of a particular 

browser, however, may offer a measure of graphic 

enl1ancement.) 

Examples of mobile source initiatives are progran1s 

based on transportation pricing, emissions credit 

trading, and fleet vehicle buy-back or scrappage. 

Stationary and area source programs emphasize 

such inducemehts as the banking and trading of 

en1issions allowances, emissions reduction credits, 

or discrete emissions reductions. 

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One of EPA's objectives in developing the MIRe~;,_,. 

Directqry was to capture information on the full 

spectru·m of air quality economic incentive progran1s. 

As Cl: result, the directory includes sun1maries of programs at various stages of development and implementation. Progra1n summaries present information 

as provided by program authorities, however, and 

the inclusion of a summary in the directory does not 

imply endorsen1ent by EPA. 

The directory organizes program summaries into 

general categories. To access information about ~ 

particular type of program fron1 the directory's 1nain 

screen, the user can select from a 1nenu of program 

categories. Selecting the target sources category, for 

instance, accesses a list of source categories (mobile, 

stationary, and area). The user can then click on the 

triangul~r pointer to the left of a category entry to 

access an alphabetical listing by state of all programs 

in the directory that focus on that particular source. 

Clicking on an entry in the progran1 list opens the 

sun1mary. 

• By Program Title 

• By Program Location 

• By Authority/Sponsor 

• By Program Type 

• By Incentive Type 

• By Target Sources 

• By Target Pollutants 

• By Program Purpose 

For more information on market-based incentive programs, visit these other sites: 

• The International Council for Local Environmental Incentives 

..,. The MIRC Directory's main screen presents a menu of program 

listings by general categories. 

Market Incentives Resource Center -4 
Each program su1nmary identifies the title, location, 

authority or sponsoring agency, and contact for the .. 

initiativei Users can send a message to the program 

contact by clicking on the e-mail address listed in the 

sutnmary' s header. Summaries also provide information describing the type of program and incentive, the 

targeted sources and pollutants, the program's purpose, and' its notable features. The summary's header 

also indicates when the progra1n information was last 

updated. 

Program Location: 

Auxiliary or Sponsor: 

Contact Name & Phone: 

Contact E-Mail: · 

Authority/Sponsor Type: 

Notes: 

• Banking and Trading 

• Cap-and-Trade/Budget 

• On-Highway Technology 

Illinois 

lllinois Environmental Protection Agency 

Gale Newton, (217) 785-5735 

contact@epa.state.il.us 

State Government 

~ The header of each MIRC Directory program summary lists key 

information. 

The MIRC Directory also includes a full-text search 

engine, which allows the user to access information 

about economic incentive programs based on keywords or phrases. To access the search screen, the 

user would click on the magnifying glass icon that 

appears throughout the directory after a selection has 

been made from the main screen. The search screen 

includes features that allow the user to refine the 

search and organize the results according to prefer-

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ence. The user c~n further specify tiie search results 

"by using basic structured query language (e.g., use 

1nore than one keyword or phrase connected by AND 

or OR). 

J!:-- The MIRC Directory includes a search engine for accessing program 

summaries by a specific topic. 

Feedback/Updates 

~caus~ developments in air ~uality economic 

mcentive programs are ongomg, MIRC staff 

will update. the directory regularly. New 

information from users is welcmne. A blank 

program description template can be downloaded from 

the Updating the Directory section of the site's n1ain 

screen, filled out, and sent directly to the MIRC using 

the site's e-mail feature (oms-mkt-inc@epamail.epa.gov) 

for inclusion in the directory. Also, users of the directory 

can e-mail feedback to MIRC staff on the utility of the 

directory. 

Market Incentives Resource Center -6 
Linkages .; ·; ~; 

nother feature of the MIRC Directory web 

site is that it includes links from its main 

screen to other web sites related to marketbased incentive programs. The MIRC staff 

will add additional links over tilne. Users of the 

directory can e-mail MIRC staff with suggestions 

about usefullinl,<s to include. 

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Accessing the MIRC Directory 

he MIRC Directory is posted as a link from 

the Office of Mobile Sources' hmnepage 

at www.epa.gov I omswww I market.htm. 

For more inforn1ation about the Market 

Incentives Resource Center and the MIRC 

Directory, call.313-668-4333 or send an e-1nail to 

oms-mkt-inc@epmnail.epa.gov 

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oEPA 

Uhited States 

Environmental Protection Agency 

Office of Air and Radiation 

Ann Arbor, M I 481 05 

Official Business 

Penalty for Private Use $300