MAKING OR BREAKING WASTE FACILITY SITING SUCCESSES WITH A SITING FRAMEWORK

Waste facility siting successes depend on many linked factors of facil ity design and impacts, site characteristics, and community beliefs an d values. A facility siting framework is constructed to combine import ant elements and cause-effect linkages that affect the siting outcome. The framework consists of three main components: (1) core elements of facility design, effects, and community beliefs, attitude and respons e; (2) contributing factors of site and community characteristics, com munity beliefs and values that affect the interpretation of the facili ty and its effects; and (3) siting management interventions to manage the process and facility impacts, The framework is applied in an unsuc cessful and a successful siting case to determine the key elements tha t contribute to siting outcome: (1) thorough need justification for th e facility from the proponent's and the community's perspective; (2) c areful facility design and prediction of the impacts and to select imp act management compensation measures; (3) screening and selection of c ommunities where the beliefs and values are compatible with the type o f facility and its effects, (4) cooperatively selected impact reductio n (i.e., prevention, control, and mitigation) measures followed by com pensation and incentives; and (5) intensive process management to bala nce the community characteristics and values with the proponent's effo rts to plan, design, assess and manage impacts, and ultimately, gain a pproval of the facility. The siting framework provides a comprehensive and robust structure of key factors that contribute to siting outcome and, therefore, provides the tool to identify, evaluate, and design s iting interventions to enhance the chances of successful siting outcom e.