Valuing the Impacts of Chemicals on Environmental Endpoints: A Scoping Study

The objective of this scoping study is to discuss and assess potential paths to advance towards a stated preference (SP) protocol with the aim of estimating the benefits of improvements in environmental endpoints due to chemical management and regulatory decisions. This scoping study is meant as a starting point for discussions on developing and testing a survey instrument. Particular attention is given to the possible generalisability of a survey, and the capacity for future benefit transfer applications. An emphasis is placed on isolating direct values for environmental endpoints and trying to minimise consideration of human health motivations (which are being valued separately under the OECD Surveys of willingness-to-pay to avoid negative chemicals-related health effects (SWACHE) Project). Several key challenges are discussed, including the identification of widely applicable environmental endpoints that can be linked to human welfare, ecotoxicological models, and policy-levers; the role of scientific uncertainties in estimating ex-ante benefits; and communicating baseline conditions in the face of such uncertainties. Alternative valuation questions are posed and discussed, along with practical steps to consider in advancing towards the development and testing of a SP survey instrument.