In 1998, the US Environmental Protection Agency implemented the Cluster Rule, its first integrated regulation, to mitigate both air and water pollution from the pulp and paper industry, where emissions and discharges are closely linked. This paper compares the agency’s estimated pollution reductions to an assessment based on the rule’s actual results and draws conclusions for both regulatory impact and retrospective analyses in general.

The US Renewable Fuel Standard was expanded to increase US biofuels consumption to 36 billion gallons per year by 2022, displacing about 25 percent of current fuel demand. This paper examines the US Environmental Protection Agency’s assessment of the benefits and costs of the program and recommends a simplified analytical approach.

Under the US Endangered Species Act, regulators can confer a critical habitat designation on areas considered vital to the recovery of listed species—a move some say results in considerable economic consequences for landowners. However, an expert assessment of the impacts from 1992 to 2011 finds no significant effect on average.

The US Food and Drug Administration estimated that its 2009 rule to ensure egg safety would result in as many as 79,000 fewer related illnesses from Salmonella Enteritidis each year, a drop of about 37 percent; however, the agency’s early projection of the benefits was too high.