SITING NOXIOUS FACILITIES - A TEST OF THE FACILITY SITING CREDO

Over the past decade it has become increasingly difficult to site noxi ous facilities, despite the fact that there is a growing need to do so . To address this problem, a set of guidelines for a fairer, wiser, an d more workable siting process - the Facility Siting Credo - was devel oped during a National Facility Siting Workshop in 1990. This paper pr esents an empirical test of these guidelines. A questionnaire based on the Credo was completed by stakeholders in 29 waste facility siting c ases, both successful and unsuccessful, across the United States and C anada. Using an independent determination of outcome (success), a prel iminary ranking of the importance of various Credo principles was obta ined. The data reveal that establishing trust between the developer an d host community is an important factor in facilitating the siting pro cess. The siting process is most likely to be successful when the comm unity perceives the facility design to be appropriate and to satisfy i ts needs. Public participation also is seen to be an important process variable, particularly if it encourages a view that the facility best meets community needs. Moreover, a siting process where communities v olunteer to host facilities is an approach that holds promise for meet ing many of these key success criteria.