Cost-Benefit Analysis of Proposed California Oil and Gas Refinery Regulations2016

The research reported here assessed the costs and benefits of the proposed California process safety management (PSM) and California Accidental Release Prevention regulations that are designed to improve safety at oil and gas refineries in California. The authors estimate these costs and benefits in four categories: costs to industry (to implement the regulation), costs to society (pass-through of certain industry costs), benefits to industry, and benefits to society. This report examines the PSM activities and their implementation costs called for in the proposed regulation. Many, if not all, of these costs will likely be passed on to California consumers in the form of higher prices for petroleum products. The new PSM regulations are designed to improve safety at California refineries,...