Second, the benefits need to be weighed against the challenges of implementing a new standard, such as engineering costs, slower deployment of new technologies and long lifespans of existing equipment. Standards can be especially difficult to impose on specialized process equipment and are probably not cost effective for Iow-volume equipment (McKinsey & Company 2009). Regulatory policy needs to overcome this disincentive to upgrading equipment (Stern 2006). Conversely, firms could try merely to meet the mandated minimum standards, even as the standards get outdated, thus discouraging innovation.