Testing the Tanner Act: Public participation and the reduction of local opposition in siting hazardous waste facilities in California.

摘要

In an attempt to improve the siting of new hazardous waste facilities in California, the 1986 Tanner Act (Assembly Bill 2948) and its amendments established procedures for siting treatment and disposal facilities for hazardous substances. This study focuses on the effectiveness of the Tanner Act's Local Assessment Committee and public participation processes in reducing local opposition towards proposed facilities. Changes in the local community's perceptions of a project were measured with a variety of data collection methods including field observation, document review, and semi-structured interviews with participants, community leaders, and relevant government officials. A combined case study and comparative approach was used to examine seven incinerator siting cases in Northern and Central California, four of which went through Tanner siting process. The study found that the public participation process did not succeed in reducing local opposition and often seemed to increase it. Additionally the siting process resulted in many unintended outcomes such as community empowerment, raising of environmental justice issues, increase in on-site facilities, waste minimization, and changes in business attitudes.