National Solid Wastes v. Charter County of Wayne
| Decision Date | 03 February 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-60188.,03-60188. |
| Citation | 303 F.Supp.2d 835 |
| Parties | THE NATIONAL SOLID WASTES MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION and REPUBLIC SERVICES OF MICHIGAN I, L.L.C., Plaintiffs, v. CHARTER COUNTY OF WAYNE and Robert A. Ficano, County Executive, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Michigan |
Robert A. Marsac, Lisa A. Robinson, Dennis M. Devaney, Williams Mullen, Detroit, MI, for Plaintiffs.
Hilda V. Gurley, Samuel A. N ouhan, Wayne County Corporation Counsel, Detroit, MI, for Defendant.
Before the Court are Plaintiffs' Motion for Declaratory Relief and Defendants' Cross-Motion for Declaratory Judgment and Summary Judgment. On September 5, 2003, Plaintiff filed a complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive relief, challenging the constitutionality of a county waste disposal ordinance under the domestic Commerce Clause, foreign Commerce Clause, Foreign Affairs Power, and substantive and procedural components of the Due Process Clause. Plaintiffs asked the Court to declare several amendments to the ordinance (hereinafter "the Amendments") invalid and to enjoin their enforcement by Defendants. Defendants filed a cross-motion for Declaratory Judgment and Summary Judgment on September 17, 2003. On September 24, 2003, the Michigan Waste Industries Association filed a brief as amicus curiae in support of Plaintiffs' motion.
The Court held a hearing on October 6, 2003, with respect to Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction. The Court granted that motion on October 16, 2003, and enjoined Defendants from enforcing the Amendments until final disposition of the case. The Court allowed the parties additional time for supplemental briefing on their declaratory judgment motions. The time for filing those briefs has closed. The parties agree that there are no disputed issues of fact, and that the resolution of this case turns on an application of law. For the reasons stated below, the Court hereby GRANTS Plaintiffs' Motion for Declaratory Judgment and DENIES Defendants' Motion for Declaratory Judgment and Summary Judgment.
Fed.R.Civ.P. 56 states that summary judgment "shall be rendered forthwith if the pleadings, [etc.,] show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law." In addition, the Declaratory Judgment Act provides, in pertinent part, that: `Tin a case of actual controversy within its jurisdiction ... any court of the United States, upon the filing of an appropriate pleading, may declare the rights and other legal relations of any interested party seeking such declaration, whether or not further relief is or could be sought." 28 U.S.C. § 2201(a) (1994). Such ruling of the Court "[s]hall have the force and effect of a final judgment or decree and shall be reviewable as such." See id. The granting of declaratory relief "[i]s appropriate where it will clarify and settle the legal relations at issue and provide relief from the uncertainty caused by the controversy which gave rise to the proceeding." Waste Mgmt. of Mich. v. Ingham County, 941 F.Supp. 656, 668 (W.D.Mich.1996) (citation omitted).
Plaintiff National Solid Wastes Management Association ("NSWMA") is a nonprofit trade association that represents for-profit companies providing solid and medical waste collection, recycling and disposal services. Plaintiff Republic Services of Michigan is a member of NSWMA, and owns and operates the Carleton Farms Landfill in Wayne County, Michigan. Defendant Wayne County, together with the Wayne County Commission, is responsible for solid waste planning, implementation and enforcement in Wayne County. Defendant Robert Ficano ("Ficano") is Wayne County Executive. Amicus Curiae Michigan Waste Industries Association (MWIA) is a Michigan non-profit corporation representing approximately fifty Michigan-based companies dedicated to the collection, processing, recycling and disposal of solid waste within Michigan. MWIA's members consist of nearly every private entity owning or operating a municipal solid waste landfill in Michigan, including some in Wayne County.
A report prepared by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality ("MDEQ") in March 2003 indicates that, in 2002, eighty percent of the solid waste disposed of in Michigan's solid waste landfills came from Michigan, twelve percent from Canada, and eight percent from several of Michigan's sister states, including New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois and Connecticut. (Pls.' Br. in Supp. of Mot. for Decl. and Inj. Relief, Ex. 3). On May 28, 1999, former Michigan governor John Engler established the Michigan Solid Waste Importation Task Force ("Task Force") to address the problem of Michigan's diminishing landfill space. The Task Force was charged with identifying the trends, causes and consequences of imported solid waste; meeting with members of Congress to encourage the passage of federal legislation allowing Michigan to control solid waste importation; and, making recommendations to the Governor and the MDEQ regarding the control of interstate and international waste imports.
On November 22, 2000, the Task Force submitted an official report to the Governor and the MDEQ stating that significant increases in waste imports would undermine Michigan's commitment to waste planning and hinder the growth of recycling in Michigan. The report acknowledged that Michigan's past legislative efforts to restrict waste imports were unsuccessful, and concluded that "[t]he only remedy sure to withstand legal challenge is one based on authority granted to states by Congress." (Pls.' Br., Ex. 1). The Task Force recommended the development of federal, as opposed to state, waste legislation.
On July 23, 2003, a Congressional hearing was held to discuss, in part, proposed waste regulation legislation H.R. 382, H.R. 411 and H.R. 1730. The transcript from that hearing contains the following statement from Michigan Representative John Dingell:
States have been searching for a legal means to control shipments of municipal solid waste from other States and other countries. Unfortunately, the result has only been costly and unproductive litigation. State laws have been struck down by the courts because under the commerce clause of the Constitution, only Congress can grant the States and localities the right to fully regulate waste imports into their jurisdiction. (Pls.' Additional Ex., Ex. 18).
The hearing transcript also contains a prepared statement by Ficano discussing the issue of waste imported to Michigan from Canada and other states. In that statement, Ficano acknowledged that "[t]ry as we might to stem the tide of imported waste coming into our County, we are limited by law, precedent, and international agreements." (Pls.' Ex. 18). He also noted that (Id.) In imploring Congress to enact authorizing legislation, Ficano recognized that Wayne County's authority to act on its own was "severely limited." (Id.)
The Michigan Solid Waste Management Act governs the disposal of waste in the State of Michigan. MICH. COMP. LAWS § 324.11501 (1999) et seq. The Act authorizes a city, county or district to create a solid waste management program once it has received proper certification by the appropriate health department. M.C.L. § 324.11508. Wayne County has obtained this certification from the MDEQ, and has enacted the Wayne County Solid Waste Management Ordinance (WCSWMO) to govern waste disposal in Wayne County.
On August 17, 2003, the Wayne County Commission passed a resolution adopting several amendments to the WCSWMO. The Amendments were introduced to the Wayne County Commission by Ficano and Kurt Heise, Director of the Department of Environment, for the purpose of achieving "a reduction in the waste stream being disposed of in county-based landfills and confirm[ing] the County's commitment to conserving landfill space and maximizing the life of landfills." (Defs.' Resp., Ex. D).
Section 141.1 of the Amendments provides:
It shall be unlawful for an owner or operator of a landfill to accept solid waste from a municipality, county, state, country or other generator that is not regulated by a beverage container deposit law that provides regulation of beverage containers and has bottle return rates comparable to those reported by the Michigan Department of Treasury for Michigan's "Beverage Containers Initiated Law of 1976" M.C.L. 445.571-445.576 (Bottle Bill).1
Sections 141.2 and 141.3 require Wayne County landfill owners and operators to obtain a signed certificate from their customers attesting to their satisfaction of the conditions listed in section 141.1. Sections 304.1 and 304.2 of the WCSWMO subject violators to civil sanctions, including fines of up to $10,000, while section 305 provides for criminal penalties, including imprisonment.
Ficano officially executed the Wayne County resolution on August 13, 2003, setting October 1, 2003 as the Amendments' enforcement date. That date was suspended when the Court granted Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction on October 16, 2003.
Plaintiffs challenge the constitutionality of the Amendments on several grounds, including the Domestic and Foreign Commerce Clause, the Foreign Affairs power, and the Due Process Clause. Because the Court deems the Amendments invalid under the domestic and foreign components of the Commerce Clause, it will not...
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National Solid Wastes Management Ass'n v. Granholm, 04-71271.
... ... Mark A. Richardson, Macomb County Prosecutor's Office, Mt. Clemens, MI, Jeffrey L. Woolstrum, Honigman, Miller, Bingham Farms, MI, ... 2019, 119 L.Ed.2d 139 (1992) and similar Supreme Court decisions as well as NSWMA v. Wayne County, 303 F.Supp.2d 835 (E.D.Mich.2004) in support of its position ... This ... ...