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Talkin’ Trash - What Happens Here, Stays Here
In light of a 2007 Supreme Court ruling, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a July 2006 U.S. District Court decision that invalidated a Lebanon County Ordinance requiring that all Lebanon County waste be disposed of at the Lebanon County landfill owned by the Greater Lebanon Refuse Authority. In Lebanon Farms Disposal Inc. v County of Lebanon and Greater Lebanon Refuse Authority, (Nos. 06-3473 and 06-3474, 3d. Cir. Aug. 6, 2008)) the District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania held that the Ordinance, which required private municipal waste haulers to use the municipal landfill even though there were cheaper disposal alternatives outside the county, violated the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution, but the Third Circuit vacated that decision based on a 2007 Supreme Court decision that changed the standards applied in reviewing such laws. The case was remanded to the District Court for further review consistent with current law on the subject.
In Pennsylvania, local governments are required under Act 101 (Waste Planning, Recycling and Reduction Act) to develop and adopt solid waste plans and update them every 10 years. Lebanon County's plan was last revised in 2000, and it designated the county-owned facility as the exclusive site for municipal trash disposal in Lebanon County. In 2003, GLRA fined Lebanon Farms for violating the County's disposal regulations by transporting refuse to a landfill in Schuylkill County. The hauler filed suit and argued that it was unlawful under the Commerce Clause for the County to require it to use the municipal landfill in North Lebanon Township.
The district court found that the Lebanon County comprehensive solid waste plan was unconstitutional because it discriminated against interstate commerce. The appeals court ruling, which relied heavily on a 2007 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a New York case, United Haulers Association Inc. v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority, 127 S.Ct. 1786 (2007), evidences a change in the circuit such that local government agencies and authorities can now require that all waste generated within the county be disposed of at their municipal landfill. Prior to this decision, counties were not permitted to direct that waste be disposed of at the local facilities.
A major victory for local and county governments, the ruling will likely have impacts in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey where so-called “flow control” rules directing all haulers to specific county transfer stations or landfills have been the subject of numerous challenges in federal court. A 1994 decision, the landmark Carbone decision, 511 U.S. 8383 (1994), invalidated the bulk of government flow control laws as violative of interstate commerce, but subsequent decisions have allowed local governments to direct waste to their facilities under certain conditions. For more information, contact Paul J. Bruder at 717.231.6606 or pbruder@rhoads-sinon.com or Stephanie E. DiVittore at 717.237.6781 or sdivittore@rhoads-sinon.com.