Fort Gratiot Sanitary Landfill, Inc. v. Michigan Dept. of Natural Resources, 504 U.S. 353, 3 (1992)

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Cite as: 504 U. S. 353 (1992)

Opinion of the Court

Justice Stevens delivered the opinion of the Court. In Philadelphia v. New Jersey, 437 U. S. 617, 618 (1978), we held that a New Jersey law prohibiting the importation of most " 'solid or liquid waste which originated or was collected outside the territorial limits of the State' " violated the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. In this case petitioner challenges a Michigan law that prohibits private landfill operators from accepting solid waste that originates outside the county in which their facilities are located. Adhering to our holding in the New Jersey case, we conclude that this Michigan statute is also unconstitutional.

I

In 1978, Michigan enacted its Solid Waste Management Act 1 (SWMA). That Act required every Michigan county to estimate the amount of solid waste that would be generated in the county in the next 20 years and to adopt a plan providing for its disposal at facilities that comply with state health standards. Mich. Comp. Laws § 299.425 (Supp. 1991).

Robert V. Bullock and Stan Cox, Assistant Attorneys General, James H. Evans, Attorney General of Alabama, Grant Woods, Attorney General of Arizona, Charles M. Oberly III, Attorney General of Delaware, Linley E. Pearson, Attorney General of Indiana, Charles S. Crookham, Attorney General of Oregon, and Mary Sue Terry, Attorney General of Virginia; and for Whatcom County, Washington, by Paul J. Kundtz.

A brief of amici curiae was filed for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania et al. by Ernest D. Preate, Jr., Attorney General of Pennsylvania, Calvin R. Koons, Senior Deputy Attorney General, John G. Knorr III, Chief Deputy Attorney General, Gail B. Phelps, and David H. Wersan, and by the Attorneys General for their respective States as follows: Michael J. Bowers of Georgia, Larry EchoHawk of Idaho, Roland W. Burris of Illinois, Marc Racicot of Montana, Don Stenberg of Nebraska, Frankie Sue Del Papa of Nevada, Nicholas Spaeth of North Dakota, Tom Udall of New Mexico, Lee Fisher of Ohio, T. Travis Medlock of South Carolina, Mark Barnett of South Dakota, Charles W. Burson of Tennessee, Mario J. Palumbo of West Virginia, and Joseph B. Meyer of Wyoming.

1 1978 Mich. Pub. Acts, No. 641, codified as amended, Mich. Comp. Laws §§ 299.401-299.437 (1984 ed. and Supp. 1991).

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