It has been argued that adverse perceptions of risk associated with high-level nuclear waste maintenance of existing business activities in areas in which adverse perceptions develop. We examine this proposition by the considering the importance of environmental amenities and a range of other factors to business location decisions using evidence from surveys of more than 400 manufacturing and business service establishments in Colorado and Utah. We show that the importance of environmental

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... ties varies according to a number of factors, in particular the type of product (manufactured product or business service), type of establishment (single-establishment firm or establishment of a multilocational firm) and establishment employment size. Policies designed to offset the loss of business activity that might result from adverse risk perceptions associated with HLNW facilities must therefore take into account how sensitive various forms of business activity present or likely to locate in any particular area might be to environmental factors. facilities will have significant impacts on the attraction of new, and the by a contractor of the U. S. Government under contract No. W-31.104ENG-38. Accordinglv. the U. S. Government retains a nonexclusive. rovalty-Ire8 license to wblish or reproduce the published form of this contribution, or allow others to do 00, for U. S. Government purposes. HOW SIGNIFICANT IS PERCEIVED ENVIRONMENTAL RISK TO BUSINESS LOCATION DECISIONS? f--% f-7: E: \)qmZ -r '