LETTER TO DR. FRANK PRESS FROM HENRY S. ROWEN

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83B00140R000100010025-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 11, 2007
• Sequence Number: 25
• Publication Date: December 7, 1981
• Content Type: LETTER

Approved For Release 2007/04/11 : CIA-RDP83B00140R000100010025-7
NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
ASSEMBLY OF ENGINEERING
Dr. Frank Press, Chairman
National Research Council
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20418
202/389-6811
202/389-6974
December 7, 1981
It is my pleasure to submit to you the complete final report, Diesel
Cars: Benefits, Risks, and Public Policy, prepared by the Diesel Impacts
Study Committee.
When the Committee began its study in the summer of 1979, the nation
was in the grip of yet another shortage of motor fuel, brought on by the
turbulent revolution in Iran, with concomitant increases in oil prices.
Once again, as in the 1973-1974 period, when we were cut off from petroleum
produced in several Middle East countries, the conservation of oil was a
central theme in government and throughout society. As a way of saving
fluid fuel, some Americans were turning to diesel-powered passenger cars.
At the same time that diesel cars were gaining acceptance, questions were
being raised about the possibility that diesel engine emissions could damage
human health and reduce air quality. Though the US Environmental Protection
Agency already had imposed certain limits on the various pollutants emitted
by diesel vehicles, the prospective growth in the number of diesel cars and
the questions this presented led the White House Office of Science and Tech-
nology Policy to ask the National Research Council to assess the situation.
The study was undertaken to assist the executive and legislative branches
of the government, as well as the American people in general, to better under-
stand the benefits and costs of the wider use of diesel cars and small trucks.
It was clear from the start that the Committee's purpose was to examine the
scientific, technical, and economic factors and to provide an analytic base
that could be of considerable value to those who must formulate government
policy about diesels. Beyond this, the Committee's report would help the
public to perceive the benefits and risks of "dieselization" of America's
roads.
to National Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering
to serve government and. other organizations
 Approved For Release 2007/04/11 : CIA-RDP83B0014OR000100010025-7
Dr. Frank Press 4
Page 2
Our first concern, and that of the sponsoring agencies, was to assess
the evidence on the potential health hazards of diesel emissions. This was
done in the form of an Interim Report by the Health Panel of the Committee
last year.
On the broader question of the social issues involved in "diesel ization
we found that very little was known about the overall costs and benefits of
government regulation to protect health, safety, and environmental amenities.
Our job involved putting societal and individual advantages and disadvantages
into perspective, comparing the hazards and the alternatives to determine
where and on whom the greatest risks would fall. In this way we could bring
more light to the decision-making process for regulating diesel engine emis-
sions. After all, there is no scientific formula for making regulatory de-
cisions. There is no satisfactory way to calculate all the costs and benefits
of regulatory alternatives in dollars or any other terms that can be mathe-
matically added, subtracted, or compared.
There is no single, objective, definitive policy that the Committee agreed
was tenable for all time so long as the answers to the questions about diesel
emissions and their control remain imprecise. Notwithstanding all the un-
certainties, the Committee has provided some significant assistance to regu-
lators and legislators. The report offers some findings, however tentative,
a out whether diesel emissions are any more critical to health than known
carcinogens in cigarette smoke, say, or roofing tar. It emphasizes that
present knowledge is far from complete and points to ways that the knowledge
base can be strengthened by additional research. It suggests when the regu-
latory agency ought to make checks of the research in order to apply the
knowledge to setting appropriate standards for disesl emissions.
Because of the diverse backgrounds and viewpoints represented on the Com-
mittee, as well as the complexity of the subject, effective communication and
consensus building were not always easy. And because the members are not
equally expert in all aspects of the problem, there may be no member of the
Committee who agrees with every detail of this report. But all the members
agree with all of the essential conclusions of the report,
As chairman, I want to express my appreciation to the Committee members
for their contributions to the study and to the panels and consultants who
prepared so many documents and summaries to advance this endeavor. Finally,
the Committee owes a great debt to Irwin Goodwin of the staff of the National
Research Council for holding us together in the final months, seeking consensus,
and editing and producing this report. He brought to our work the requisite
combination of enthusiasm, patience, cheerfulness, and, most of all, the im-
portant quality of caring.
Sincerely,
Henry S, Rowen
Approved For Release 2007/04/11 : CIA-RDP83B0014OR000100010025-7