The Costs and Environmental Justice Concerns of NIMBY in Solid Waste Disposal

Many recent US Congresses have proposed bills that allow state and local governments to restrict interjurisdictional waste shipments. Using data on intercounty flows in California a random utility model of haulers’ decisions about where deposit from each county, this study examines the economic costs import bans taxes implications distribution disposal by race (and ethnicity). I find NIMBY-motivated laws would reduce transport at substantial cost. Furthermore, NIMBY law enacted despite reducing county’s imports, could increase total whole state, generating additional external transportation. A universal ban all counties transboundary waste, but it lead substitution away facilities near white residents toward Hispanic residents, exacerbating distributional concerns.