Caroline Cecot on EPA Changes to Cost-Benefit Analysis

Jace Lington and Bennett Nuss chat with Caroline Cecot about how recent changes in the EPA’s analytical methods affect transparency and environmental protection. She discusses the evolution of cost-benefit analysis from a deregulatory tool to a framework for safeguarding health and the environment, and how recent administrative moves might revert it to “arbitrary and capricious” territory. The conversation delves into critical questions about regulatory decision-making, the role of Congress, and the impact of transparency on public trust.

Notes:

• Benefit-Cost Analysis Under Threat, Caroline Cecot, The Regulatory Review 
• Rethinking Health-Based Environmental Standards, Michael Livermore and Richard Revesz, New York University Law Review 
• Deregulatory Cost-Benefit Analysis and Regulatory Stability, Caroline Cecot, Duke Law Journal 
• EPA Turbine Rule, January 2026