Opinion ID: 2583875
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: regulation of solid waste collection as a police power

Text: This Court has repeatedly held that where an action of a municipality or government entity serves a public purpose then the function is proprietary, and where the purpose is governmental, then the function is also governmental. Kelso v. Lance, 134 Idaho 373, 375, 3 P.3d 51, 52 (2000). In Coeur d'Alene Garbage Serv. v. City of Coeur d'Alene, 114 Idaho 588, 591, 759 P.2d 879, 882 (1988) we found that: [A] [c]ity has an interest in insuring that the garbage collection service that is provided to its residents is uniform and accomplishes the purpose of maintaining the health of those who reside in and frequent the City. The police power of [a][c]ity to accomplish these objectives is broad, but not unlimited. This Court's opinion in the first Plummer decision further bears this out: `Proprietary function' refers to the actual act of hauling garbage. Passing laws regulating solid waste collection is a government function. Plummer v. City of Fruitland, 2003 WL 2004522 at n. 2. Where a municipality's action is properly classified as the governmental function of regulation, such regulation falls under that municipality's police power. Therefore, an ordinance passed by a municipality seeking to regulate the collection of solid waste within its city limits is an exercise of police power by that municipality. The majority of jurisdictions in the United States considering the issue have held that a municipality's ability to regulate the collection of waste and garbage is a police power function. Authority over refuse has been treated as part of the police power that covers the plenum of authority to legislate for the general welfare of society. Pleasant Hill Bayshore Disposal, Inc. v. Chip-It Recycling, Inc., 91 Cal.App.4th 678, 110 Cal. Rptr.2d 708, 716 (2001). The United States Supreme Court also held in California Reduction Co. v. Sanitary Reduction Works of San Francisco, 199 U.S. 306, 26 S.Ct. 100, 50 L.Ed. 204 (1905), that regulation of garbage disposal services is a proper police power function of a municipality. In California Reduction Co., the California Constitution contained wording regarding police powers and sanitation regulation almost identical to Idaho's Art. XII, § 2. Accordingly, we hold that in regulating the collection of solid waste within its city limits, a municipality is exercising its police power function, and the burden then shifts to the Plummers to show that the City's exercise of this police power was not in conflict with the general laws of the state.