Multiattribute Utility Analysis as a Framework for Public Participation in Siting a Hazardous Waste Management Facility

This paper describes a public participation exercise in which stakeholders used an approach based on multiattribute utility analysis to select a site for a hazardous waste management facility. The key to success was the ability to separate and address two types of judgments inherent in environmental decisions—technical judgments regarding the likely consequences of alternative choices and value judgments regarding the importance or seriousness of those consequences. The approach enabled technical specialists to communicate the essential technical considerations and allowed stakeholders to establish the value judgments for the decision. Although rarely used in public participation, the multiattribute utility approach appears to provide a useful framework for the collaborative resolution of complex environmental decision problems.