The health consequences of excess emissions: Evidence from Texas

Abstract Excess emissions are air pollution releases that exceed permitted levels and occur during facility start-ups, shutdowns, or malfunctions. While they violations of the federal Clean Air Act, states have historically granted violating facilities automatic exemptions; limiting enforcement weakening existing regulation. Recent efforts to harmonize state rules ignited debate surrounding optimal excess Using Texas data from 2002 2017, we show robust evidence on costs emissions. We find increase harmful nearby elderly mortality, responsible for an average 35 annual deaths in alone. as instrument ozone concentrations, a 10% monthly increases mortality by 3.9%, driven increased oldest age groups.