Policy Evaluation Report on Air Pollution in Australia

This report evaluates the National Clean Air Agreement policy implemented by the Australian government to reduce air pollution. It identifies the problems, costs, and benefits of this externality and provides recommendations to reduce air pollution.

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Policy Evaluation Report
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Introduction
Environmental externalities are the environmental effects of production which affects the
consumer utility and costs. This report is about the issue of air pollution in Australia which is the
major environmental externality there. The task will describe and evaluate the policy which the
country is currently using to reduce air pollution. It will also identify the problems, costs and
benefits of this externality. Lastly the task will describe the possible solutions and
recommendations which need to be employed in order to reduce air pollution.
National Clean Air Agreement policy
The National Clean Air Agreement is the policy which the Government of Australia is
currently using to ensure that the challenges of air quality in the present and future are reduced.
This policy was established in the year 2015 by the Australia’s environment ministers. This
policy enables the country to identify some actions which will be employed so as to acquire
benefits from a national collaboration which addresses issues of air quality, health and
environmental outcomes (Hyland, 2012, p. 154). The agreement’s work plan contains these
actions which are agreed by the ministers in federal, state and also territory environment. The
plan also contains roles, responsibilities and the timeframes which implement the actions. After
every two years, the plan is reviewed so as to ensure its relevant.
The priority setting process is important because it focuses on the future efforts which are
used to improve the quality of air in Australia. The 2015-2017 plan contains action contains
agreed upon by the ministers (Jacoby, 2014, p. 10). The mid-term review report contains a
progress in the initial work plan after 12 months.

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According to the 2018-2020 work plan, the ministers agreed on some actions to be taken to
reduce air pollution in Australia so as to ensure there is air quality. These actions include;
1.The ministers agreed that the national ambient air quality standards needed to be reviewed
which include; sulfur dioxide, ozone and nitrogen dioxide standard; the National pollutant
inventory and the fuel quality standard.
2.The ministers agreed to finish up the new emission and efficiency standards adoption which
include the new wood heaters and a commitment sharing of management practices.
According to the work plan, the achievements from the 2015-2017 plan include; standards for
particle pollution which is the ambient air quality and the standard for marine engines and new
outdoor power equipment which is the product emissions (Townshend, 2013, p. 25). With this
policy, the government of Australia has been able to maintain a good performance and come up
with measures to reduce air pollution hence improving the overall air quality in Australia.
Environmental externality
Environmental externalities are the environmental effects of production which affects the
consumer utility and costs. Negative externalities lead to low cost of production than the social
costs. Example is a factory producing widgets but polluting the environment. The air pollution
due to vehicle emissions is an example of negative externality
In this report, we will focus on the major environmental externality of air pollution in Australia.
One of the major ways in which people pollute air in Australia is through vehicle emissions
which cause health problems. Some people find themselves idling in the road especially when
one goes for a quick errand. In this case, the engine is left running hence wasting money, fuel

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and dumps the pollutants to the air hence polluting the environment (Ostrom, 2012, p. 353).
Many people don’t realize this because of ignorance.
The risk of increased air pollution in Australia is due to population growth and ageing,
urbanization and increased transport and energy demands. These affects the air quality which
might affect the present and future generations (Barnett, 2012, p. 28). That’s why the
government of Australia has implemented a policy to improve the air quality in Australia.
This pollution affects the people by contacting respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases,
cancer, dementia, pregnancy complications and also adverse birth outcomes. Public health
campaigns should be set so that people’s beliefs will be changed on what to do to reduce these
air pollutions. The Australian government need more complex policies which will be able to
reduce the issue of air pollution (Joss, 2017, p. 453). Some policies like fuel efficiency standards
and vehicle emission standards have been able to solve this issue.
Australia has been left behind in coming up with policies to reduce air pollution example
the rules on sulfur in fuels which damage the vehicle emissions. Australia has sulfur standards
for petrol which allow 150 parts per million as compared to Japan, US and European Union and
three times than in China (Young, 2013, p. 89).
The costs and benefits
Number of deaths due to air pollutions has increased in Australia as compared to other
economies. This is because out of 34 countries in the OECPD, 20 countries saw the decline in
deaths meaning Australia is among the 14 countries whose death rates keep on increasing. The
report from the OECPD states that Australia has failed to reduce the rapidly rise in air pollution
where the economic cost has run into billions.

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Approximately, there are 740 deaths per year in Australia according to the estimate by the OECD
(Dobbie, 2015, p. 55). These deaths are due to the inhalation of vehicle emissions which affects
the lungs hence passing through the bloodstream. Every year there are about 1280 deaths on the
roads and the 740 deaths due to air pollution. This is a cost that involves a transport system
which is more reliant on fossil fuel. These death costs due to air pollution for the OECPD
countries hit around $US1.7 trillion in the year 2010 and an economic cost of about $5.8 billion
in 2010 from $2.9 billion. This was due to the usage of diesel vehicles in many countries which
end up polluting the air.
Through the Euro 6 standard which is stricter and mandated for light and heavy vehicles,
there will be a net benefit of A$675 million by 2040. This will be less as compared to the present
annual cost of vehicle pollution of A$4billion in Australia (Nemet, 2010, p. 14). The problem of
the standard is that it’s a usual business in the US and Europe. The statement doesn’t consider
banning diesel vehicles in the cities and this is a policy which most experts term as best practice.
Solutions/ Recommendations
The fuel efficiency and vehicle emission policies in Australia have been reviewed this
year and they will be able to improve the air quality (Dominici, 2010, p. 187). This is the best
chance which will be able to improve fuel efficiency, increase the demand for high quality fuel
and also improve the air in the cities.
Only vehicles with automatic technology should be purchased so as to reduce the vehicle
emissions (Klaassen, 2012, p. 5). This automated technology enables the vehicle to switch off
when it’s still and also enables the driver to start the vehicle when they press the accelerator.
The Australian refineries should be upgraded so as to supply low sulfur fuel and this is a more
sustainable approach to air pollution. The cost of health burden due to vehicle emissions is too
high for the society.

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Investing in transport systems that operates on fossil fuel should be avoided and rather Public
transport operating with clean fuels should be supported (Martin, 2012, p. 119). This will be able
to reduce air pollution in the cities because mostly electricity will be used especially by trains.
Public awareness should be raised to educate people on the quality of air and also ensure that the
government considered both long-term and short-term policies. People should not idle in cars
because it is an offence and might lead to fines of not less than $ 5000 or even a jail time in some
areas. This will improve the air quality in Australia. This is important because we need air to
breath as we cannot survive without a clean air.
Conclusion
The report has described a policy which is currently being used by the government of
Australia to reduce air pollution in the country. Air pollution is a major environmental
externality in Australia and has resulted to many problems hence affecting the people around
who inhale the emissions from the vehicles leading to health infections. Through air pollution,
Australia has incurred a lot of costs as deaths tend to increase. the nation has come up with
different measures and standards to reduce the issue of pollution in the cities.

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References
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pollution:shifting from a single-pollutant to a multi-pollutant approach..
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Hyland, A.,Barnoya, J., & Corral,J.E, 2012. Smoke -free air policies:past,present and future..
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Ostrom,E.,, 2012. Nested externalities and polycenric institutions:must we wait for global
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