There are two methods for assessing the damage from harmful pollutant emissions:

The Benefit Transfer method involves the use and analysis of the findings of existing studies on the basis of explanatory variables such as: sector, GDP per capita, population density, size of affected population, source of pollution or the percentage of weak population (elderly and children), which can explain the variance between the results of the studies. The results of the method enable decision-makers to assess the emission values at one site by adapting the explanatory variables to the characteristics of the site being examined. This method is prevalent in various countries and effective (low margin of error) in cases of limited budgets and/or short schedules.
The Dose-Response method uses morbidity and mortality functions to assess the correlation between the public’s exposure to a particular pollutant at different concentrations – and morbidity and mortality rates. This requires quantifying the symptoms of morbidity, namely the value of statistical life. These values are determined on the basis of different assumptions which could yield different results. Thus for instance, the current Israeli “transportation project appraisal guidelines” indicate that the value of statistical life in Israel is 4.5 million shekels. Kivun and Prof. Becker’s study used a value of 6.64 million shekels, whereas according to the OECD’s calculations the value should be 9 million shekels. This study did not employ this methodology, therefore the committee did not address this issue.