Am. Trucking Ass'ns v. Alviti
| Docket Number | C.A. No. 18-378 WES |
| Decision Date | 21 September 2022 |
| Parties | AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATIONS, INC.; Cumberland Farms, Inc.; M&M Transport Services, Inc.; New England Motor Freight, Inc., Plaintiffs, v. Peter ALVITI, Jr., in his Official Capacity as Director of The Rhode Island Department of Transportation; Rhode Island Turnpike and Bridge Authority, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Rhode Island |
Gerald C. DeMaria, James A. Ruggieri, Higgins Cavanagh & Cooney, LLP, Providence, RI, Charles Alan Rothfeld, Pro Hac Vice, Colleen M. Campbell, Pro Hac Vice, Evan Tager, Pro Hac Vice, James A. Fussell, Pro Hac Vice, Michelle Webster, Pro Hac Vice, Reginald R. Goeke, Pro Hac Vice, Sean P. McDonnell, Pro Hac Vice, Mayer Brown LLP, Washington, DC, Richard Pianka, Pro Hac Vice, ATA Litigation Center, Arlington, VA, for Plaintiff American Trucking Associations, Inc.
Gerald C. DeMaria, James A. Ruggieri, Higgins Cavanagh & Cooney, LLP, Providence, RI, Charles Alan Rothfeld, Pro Hac Vice, Colleen M. Campbell, Pro Hac Vice, Evan Tager, Pro Hac Vice, James A. Fussell, Pro Hac Vice, Michelle Webster, Pro Hac Vice, Reginald R. Goeke, Pro Hac Vice, Sean P. McDonnell, Pro Hac Vice, Mayer Brown LLP, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs Cumberland Farms, Inc., M&M Transport Services, Inc., New England Motor Freight, Inc.
Keith David Hoffmann, Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General, Providence, RI, Michael W. Field, Department of Attorney General, 150 South Main Street — Civil Division, Providence, RI, for Defendants.
FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
In the early 1980s, an article appeared in the Wall Street Journal that described the State of Rhode Island as "little more than a smudge on the fast lane to Cape Cod." Leon Daniel, Poor Little Rhode Island, Maligned but Fighting Back, UPI, Sept. 11, 1983. That fast lane runs from the state's southern border with Connecticut on I-95 North, to Providence about forty-five miles distant, then to I-195 into Massachusetts and on to the Cape. (I-95 continues north into Massachusetts as well.) The governor at the time, J. Joseph Garrahy, was less than amused with the tongue-in-cheek comment. "With friends like that, who needs enemies?" he was quoted as saying about the Rhode Islander who penned the piece. Milly McLean, Rhode Island: Even the Natives Poke Fun at It, UPI, Dec. 10, 1984. The remark struck a nerve: Rhode Islanders have always been a little sensitive that their state's diminutive size garners it less respect than it deserves for its history, culture, beautiful beaches, and diversity.1 That lack of respect is exacerbated by the fact that the busiest highway in the United States — the I-95 North/South corridor — effectively bisects the state. More than 250,000 cars and trucks speed through the state on I-95 every day, many never stopping to appreciate the charms of the Ocean State.
While governors and business owners and tourism officials have grumbled for decades about this reality, in 2015 then-governor Gina Raimondo and her compatriots in the General Assembly figured out a way finally to monetize the "fast lane to Cape Cod" — by tolling the bridges along the major interstate and state highway corridors that connect "little Rhody" to its larger neighbors and states beyond.
But tolling highways is tricky and controversial business. The need to raise money to fund construction and repairs of bridges must be balanced against the political reality that many local residents and business owners use those same corridors daily to get around the state. The solution they contrived — dubbed "RhodeWorks," the first and only of its kind in the United States — was to toll only large commercial trucks (or tractor trailers) at various bridge locations along these major corridors. This plan had the obvious appeal of raising tens of millions of needed dollars from tractor trailers while leaving locals largely unaffected.
Until now. In 2018, the trucking industry represented by its association, the American Trucking Associations, Inc. ("ATA"), and two companies,2 M&M Transport Services, Inc. and Cumberland Farms, Inc., filed suit to block the RhodeWorks tolls. This Court denied the requested injunction, and litigation proceeded. A couple trips to the Court of Appeals stalled the process,3 but in May and June of 2022, the Court conducted a twelve-day bench trial featuring fine lawyers and numerous national experts in transportation economics and highway engineering. This decision decides the fate of the RhodeWorks tolling program.
As the Court describes in detail below, the RhodeWorks tolling program violates the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. For this reason, the State is permanently enjoined from further tolling under the law.
This decision, consistent with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 52, sets forth the Court's findings of fact and conclusions of law. But this decision is one largely grounded in legal analysis, turning on data analytics and expert testimony; for that reason, and to make this decision more readable, the Court's initial findings of fact section is sparse relative to its conclusions of law, and is best understood as an overview. Within the legal analysis, the Court finds many additional facts, and these are specifically incorporated as additional findings of fact.
The Court begins its conclusions of law — where it also rules on several lingering evidentiary motions — with three issues antecedent to the merits. First, a surprise trial motion necessitates a lengthy standing analysis, and the Court finds standing does exist for all Plaintiffs. Next, the familiar issue of congressional authorization is addressed, followed by a discussion of the burden of proof. Moving then to the heart of the case, the Court considers the trial evidence under dormant Commerce Clause principles. That analysis starts with fair approximation, holding that the RhodeWorks tolling program does not fairly approximate use of the facilities under any relevant measurement. Next, the Court analyzes the discrimination issue. It concludes that the General Assembly enacted the program with a discriminatory purpose and that the program indeed does discriminate in effect. With that, the Court applies strict scrutiny, and finds the State fails to meet this high bar.
Rhode Island is home to more than 700 bridges listed on the National Bridge Inventory System. May 25 Tr. 58:18-24, ECF No. 235 (); June 1 Tr. 198:12-22, ECF No. 238 (); PX419 at 1 (). For decades, its bridges ranked among the worst in the country, with more than 100 rated as being in poor condition. PX419 at 1. This deterioration was in part due to historic underfunding of the state's infrastructure. Id.; PX30 at 7. Of the 611 state-owned bridges on the National Bridge Inventory, 142 were structurally deficient as of 2015.4 June 1 Tr. 87:1-9.
Seeking a cure, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation ("RIDOT") began studying options for investing in its transportation assets, including bridges, as early as 2008. See PX30. By 2015, RIDOT had begun to lay the foundation for the legislation that became known as RhodeWorks. See June 1 Tr. 72:8-15. With RhodeWorks, RIDOT hoped to address funding deficiencies, reorganize financing, and better execute project planning. Id. 74:12-75:5. But its primary goal was to fix Rhode Island's deficient bridges. Id. 74:19-23.
Part of the RhodeWorks proposal was a tolling system designed to fund bridge repairs. From early on, the program aimed at tolling only trucks, not passenger vehicles. See Peter Garino Dep. 15:10-16:3; see June 1 Tr. 72:8-15. This limitation stemmed from the belief that trucks cause more damage to bridges than do other vehicles. Garino Dep. 15:22-16:3. In their research, RIDOT employees found support for this approach in a 1979 Government Accounting Office ("GAO") study concerning truck damage. Id. 39:1-9; May 24 Tr. 96:19-98:22, ECF No. 234.
In the leadup to the first draft of the legislation, RIDOT commissioned several studies to assess potential toll corridors and bridges. See, e.g., PX65. The process looked to several factors, some of which included volume of traffic and damage to bridges. June 1 Tr. 78:15-25. RIDOT was interested in determining where it would be most "cost effective" to toll, id. 89:15-25; Garino Dep. 26:15-25, and also how the toll system would impact in-state and out-of-state registered vehicles, see PX190; PX208 at 6; PX217.
RIDOT set a projected revenue goal from the RhodeWorks program at approximately $45 million per year. June 1 Tr. 82:16-84:17. The Department estimated that it would use RhodeWorks to fund about ten percent of the total cost of bridge repairs needed throughout the state. Id.
In 2015, the General Assembly considered two versions of the RhodeWorks bill. See PX83; PX101. The first would have tolled Class 6+ vehicles.5See PX83 at 9-10.
After objections from local businesses, the legislation was modified to toll only Class 8+ vehicles with a limitation on toll charges for multiple trips over the same bridge. See PX101 at 11-12.
On February 11, 2016, the Rhode Island General Assembly enacted "The Rhode Island Bridge Replacement, Reconstruction, and Maintenance Fund Act of 2016" ("RhodeWorks"). See R.I. Gen. Laws § 42-13.1-1. The General Assembly made the following legislative findings, included in the statute:
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