Opinion ID: 748783
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Waste Disposal Fee Provisions

Text: 15 Defendant cross-appeals the district court's decision to permanently enjoin enforcement of its waste disposal fee provisions, arguing that the court erred in concluding that they violate the Commerce Clause. We agree with the district court's conclusion that the provisions in question are facially discriminatory, since they treat Metro and non-Metro interests differently. Examples of such differential treatment are the fact that the fee is not imposed upon waste disposed of at NTTC or any other Metro-owned facility, and that it is only imposed upon plaintiff and BFI, both of whom dispose of waste at facilities outside of Metro's boundaries. Once the court found the fee to be facially discriminatory, it was per se invalid, unless Metro could demonstrate that it had no other means of advancing a legitimate local interest. Carbone, 511 U.S. at 392, 114 S.Ct. at 1683. 16 The district court properly rejected defendant's argument that the fee is a compensatory tax which compensates Metro for the overall cost of solid waste management in Davidson County, since Metro did not offer any evidence of a specific tax burden on intrastate commerce for which it sought compensation. See Oregon Waste, 511 U.S. at 102-03, 114 S.Ct. at 1351-52. Not only did Metro fail to demonstrate that it had no other means of advancing a legitimate local interest, both parties acknowledged that there was a reasonable nondiscriminatory alternative in the form of a generator or container tax on all residential and non-residential waste generated within Metro's boundaries. The district court did not abuse its discretion in permanently enjoining enforcement of defendant's waste disposal fee provisions.