Cite as: 504 U. S. 353 (1992)
Rehnquist, C. J., dissenting
capacity by 1991). It is no secret why capacity is not expanding sufficiently to meet demand—the substantial risks attendant to waste sites make them extraordinarily unattractive neighbors. Swin Resource Systems, Inc. v. Lycoming Cty., 883 F. 2d 245, 253 (CA3 1989), cert. denied, 493 U. S. 1077 (1990). The result, of course, is that while many are willing to generate waste—indeed, it is a practical impossibility to solve the waste problem by banning waste production—few are willing to help dispose of it. Those locales that do provide disposal capacity to serve foreign waste effectively are affording reduced environmental and safety risks to the States that will not take charge of their own waste.*
The State of Michigan has stepped into this quagmire in order to address waste problems generated by its own populace. It has done so by adopting a comprehensive approach to the disposal of solid wastes generated within its borders. The legislation challenged today is simply one part of a broad package that includes a number of features: a state-mandated statewide effort to control and plan for waste disposal, Mich. Comp. Laws §§ 299.427 and 299.430 (1984 and Supp. 1991), requirements that local units of government participate in the planning process, ibid., and § 299.426 (Supp. 1991), restrictions to assure safe transport, § 299.431 (1984), a ban on the operation of waste disposal facilities unless various design and technical requirements are satisfied and appropriate permits obtained, ibid., and § 299.432a (Supp. 1991), and commitments to promote source separation, composting, and recycling, § 299.430a (Supp. 1991). The Michigan legislation is
*I am baffled by the Court's suggestion that this case might be characterized as one in which garbage is being bought and sold. See ante, at 359. There is no suggestion that petitioner is making payment in order to have garbage delivered to it. Petitioner is, instead, being paid to accept the garbage of which others wish to be rid. There can be little doubt that in accepting this garbage, petitioner is also imposing environmental and other risks attendant to the waste's delivery and storage.
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