NCJ Number
104312
Journal
Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: (Spring 1986) Pages: 329-378
Date Published
1986
Length
50 pages
Annotation
This article discusses the political and legal framework governing hazardous waste facility siting decisions, nonnegotiative State facility siting techniques, negotiative facility siting techniques, and hazardous waste siting procedures in a number of States (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Connecticut).
Abstract
The major obstacle to the siting of hazardous waste facilities is local public opposition to State siting efforts. State nonnegotiative facility siting techniques include citizen participation on siting boards, local advisory committees, and through public hearings and the site designation process; and the State preemption of local authority. State negotiative siting techniques provide a role for mediation and arbitration. Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, and Connecticut provide for such an approach. The laws in all four States permit a judicially enforcible siting agreement between the community and developer, local representative committees that include community officials and citizens, the involvement of abutting communities and the general public in the siting process, technical assistance grants for the local committee, deadlines for negotiations, and subsequent arbitration to resolve impasses. The statutes differ regarding the community's obligation to negotiate. Although the effectiveness of these statutes in resolving siting disputes has yet to be determined, they promise a better approach than unstructured conflict or formal litigation. 332 footnotes.