Siting Criteria

Establishing location or siting criteria for new ECE programs is another approach that can be used to ensure that ECE programs are not placed on property, in buildings, or next to facilities where there are hazardous chemicals. Some states have ECE regulations that include siting criteria to address proximity of an ECE program to potential environmental hazards [19]. However, most of the criteria used by states appear to be very general. For example, Oklahoma ECE programs must be located “in an area which offers minimum hazards to the health, safety, and welfare of the children” [19]. Before relying on this type of approach, a state may want to carefully consider who will be responsible for applying the criteria and how compliance will be shown. If the criteria are general, implementation guidance might need to be developed to describe how the criteria should be applied and what constitutes an “environmentally safe site” or a “minimum hazard area.”