The application for broader public policy started from the work of Otto Eckstein,[13] who in 1958 laid out a welfare economics foundation for CBA and its application for water resource development. Over the 1960s, CBA was applied in the US for water quality,[14] recreation travel,[15] and land conservation.[16] During this period, the concept of option value was developed to represent the non-tangible value of preserving resources such as national parks.[17]
CBA was later expanded to address both intangible and tangible benefits of public policies relating to mental illness,[18] substance abuse,[19] college education,[20] and chemical waste policies.[21] In the US, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 first required the application of CBA for regulatory programs, and since then, other governments have enacted similar rules. Government guidebooks for the application of CBA to public policies include the Canadian guide for regulatory analysis,[22] Australian guide for regulation and finance,[23] US guide for health care programs,[24] and US guide for emergency management programs.[25]