What is the best distribution for pollution abatement efforts? Information for optimizing the WFD Programs of measures
Résumé
The Water Framework Directive (WFD) has mobilized economic theory in order to encourage E.U. Member States to reach desirable environmental water pollution levels by conciliating economic and ecological interests. For this purpose, a stringent standard (good status) has been set. Nevertheless, it will be possible to relax this standard if it appears that total abatement costs required for reaching this good status exceed expected environmental benefits. This ambitious policy updates the issue of the abatement costs and environmental benefits assessment. Concerning the costs, a full discrimination of the abatement effort minimizes the total cost when the impact of polluters changes spatially, while a uniform effort can reach a pollution target in flexible ways. In this case, the increase of the degree of discrimination of the abatement effort is required only if it generates significant positive economies. Our theoretical and empirical results have shown that the discrimination advantage becomes insignificant for either very demanding or very little demanding ecological standards and varies according to the polluters' profile. In the case of intermediate standards, efficiency gains become negligible with a restricted number of effort levels.
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