Introduction

Any comprehensive effort to describe and analyze a pioneering and innovative environmental regulatory measure based on market incentives designed to control a serious urban air quality problem deserves more than the customary brief introduction. This serious problem concerns the harms and welfare losses attributable to low-level ozone and one of its precursors, volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions. This book aims to be that comprehensive effort covering the initial contentious market design discussions, the expectations and actual performance of the regulation during the first years, the surprises and problems encountered, the search for and diagnosis of the causes of the problems, and, finally, the proposals to redesign the market to achieve improved air quality.