The hazardous waste facility siting controversy: the Massachusetts experience

Intense local opposition has frequently frustrated efforts to site hazardous waste facilities. This Note examines states' attempts to balance the increasing need for such facilities with growing community opposition. The Note focuses on the Massachusetts response to this problem, and argues that the Massachusetts program has failed to adequately preempt a locality's power to block facility siting. The Note proposes an alternative model, based on the National Environmental Policy Act, which addresses local concerns while achieving its purpose of siting safe containment facilities for toxic substances.