Supremes uphold garbage taxes against "dormant commerce clause" challenge

Waste Connections of Neb. v. City of Lincoln, 269 Neb. 855 Filed May 27, 2005. No. S-03-1356.

Lincoln City Ordinances that reduced "tipping" fees from $17/ton to $10/ton, eliminated a $100 per vehicle occupation tax and replaced these measures with a $7/per ton fee for collecting garbage and a $10 per ton "tipping" fee discriminated against a garbage hauler that wanted to dump trash in Butler County but did not violate equal protection or the Federal "dormant" commerce clause. The $7/ton collection fee did not apply to garbage headed out of the state. The Supreme Court holds that at most this collection fee-occupation tax structure discriminates against in-state commerce but does not affect interstate commerce. The Nebraska Supreme Court did not mention whether the City's owning the landfill affected its analysis, but it could have as it was affecting interstate commerce as a market place participant. The Supreme Court states "(the) occupation tax of $7 per ton(applies to) all haulers operating within the(Lincoln) city limits without regard to a hauler’s locality. Thus, a hauler from another state pays the same tax as a hauler from Nebraska if waste collected within the city limits is destined for deposit within Nebraska. Similarly, if the waste is destined for deposit outside Nebraska, neither a hauler from Nebraska nor a hauler from any other state is required to pay the tax. This equal treatment of in-state and out-of-state haulers under an ordinance is not a burden on interstate commerce; rather, it is a burden on intrastate commerce, which is not protected under the dormant Commerce Clause." US Supreme Court Justice Thomas' proposes to scrap the dormant commerce clause altogether. Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison (94-1988), 520 U.S. 564 (1997).(Thomas Dissenting)

Nice idea it would eliminate a particularly troublesome area of constitutional law final exams.