Opinion ID: 1891394
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Township of Galloway v. Atlantic County Utilities Authority (A-1083-98T5) and National Solid Wastes Management Association v. Atlantic County Utilities Authority (A-1126-98T5)

Text: These consolidated appeals, argued in the Appellate Division in February 2000, and awaiting decision, were transferred by the Chancery Division to the Appellate Division in September 1998. In the first action, plaintiffs were two Atlantic County municipalities, a waste hauler, and three Galloway Township residents. Plaintiffs in the second action were two solid waste hauler associations and four waste haulers collecting waste in Atlantic County. Both suits challenged the authority of the Atlantic County Utilities Authority (ACUA) to impose an EIC on municipalities and waste haulers to supplement the ACUA's tipping-fee revenues and enable it to pay debt service obligations on approximately $87 million of revenue bonds issued to fund the costs of a transfer station, expansion of the ACUA's landfill, and the Authority's obligations under its waste-disposal contract with a Pennsylvania landfill owner. In ruling on plaintiffs' application for injunctive relief, the Chancery Division reached the preliminary conclusion that the EIC does not appear to be authorized by statute, but that court later determined that it was without jurisdiction to decide the matter. 2. IMO Certain Amendments to the Adopted and Approved Solid Waste Management Plan (A-5964-97T3) This appeal, now pending in the Appellate Division with its disposition stayed pending our resolution of the matter before us, originated as a suit filed by two associations of solid waste haulers and three solid waste collection companies challenging the DEP's decision to approve an amendment to the Union County District Solid Waste Management Plan (Plan Amendment). The Plan Amendment proposed a substantial reduction in the outstanding bonded indebtedness of the Union County Utilities Authority (UCUA) consisting of approximately $294 million, incurred to finance acquisition and construction costs associated with a resource-recovery facility and other ancillary solid-waste disposal facilities, as well as for recycling and landfill costs. The debt reduction was achieved in part by using funds on hand to reduce part of the debt, by refinancing and extending the debt's maturity, and by leasing the resource-recovery facility to its private operator in return for lease payments totaling $180 million. That lease agreement was facilitated by long-term waste delivery contracts with thirteen Union County municipalities guaranteeing substantial annual flow of waste to the resource-recovery facility. The balance of the UCUA's debt is to be funded by an EIC imposed on non-users of the UCUA's facilities, specifically haulers that pick up waste generated in Union County and dispose of the waste elsewhere. Appellants contend that the UCUA's EIC is unauthorized by statute and that it violates the Commerce Clause in view of the principles established by the United States Supreme Court in C & A Carbone, Inc. v. Town of Clarkstown, supra, 511 U.S. 383, 114 S.Ct. 1677, 128 L.Ed. 2d 399. 3. National Solid Waste Management Association v. Gloucester County Improvement Authority (A-1041-98T3) This action, instituted by two solid waste management associations and four solid waste haulers, challenges the imposition of an EIC by the Gloucester County Improvement Authority (GCIA) that is assessed against solid waste haulers not using the facilities of the GCIA to dispose of solid waste generated in Gloucester County. Approval to impose an EIC was sought by the GCIA because of a shortfall of revenue to pay debt service on approximately $28 million of outstanding bonded indebtedness issued to finance the landfill operated by the GCIA. Analogous to the legal issue in the appeal before us that requires an interpretation of section 22.1 of the Municipal and County Utilities Authorities Law, the validity of the EIC imposed by the GCIA is to be determined by the provisions of the County Improvement Authorities Law, N.J.S.A. 40:37A-44 to -135, under which it is organized. After the Appellate Division remanded the matter to the Law Division to develop a factual record, appellants filed a Petition for Certification with this Court seeking review of the Appellate Division's disposition. That Petition remains pending.