How does environmental regulation impact the performance of economies? Scientific literature on
impact assessments on environmental regulation are analysed in this article, focusing on the ex-ante
studies on the Sulphur Emission Control Area (SECA) in the Baltic Sea and North Sea. The SECA regulations
on shipping exhaust gases are an example that may appear to be straightforward, but on closer
inspection, this is a multifaceted issue that has several aspects that are difficult to measure and balance
against each other. As such, it offers a good case example to categorize and conceptualize the questions of
impact assessment. The SECA regulations are aimed at creating environmental and health benefits, and
presumed to incur compliance costs. Other benefits and costs have not received much attention. Macroeconomic effects and the issues of international distribution of costs and benefits are often neglected.
The relevant impact categories for the SECA regulations are identified and discussed systematically. We
propose a comprehensive regulation impact framework for socio-economic effects that can be extended to
other environmental regulation to support the needs of consistent and reliable evidence-based maritime
policy.