94
Syllabus
standard for these cases. Thus, the surcharge must be invalidated unless respondents can show that it advances a legitimate local purpose that cannot be adequately served by reasonable nondiscriminatory alternatives. Neither of respondents' justifications passes strict scrutiny. For the surcharge to be justified as a "compensatory tax" necessary to make shippers of out-of-state waste pay their "fair share" of disposal costs, it must be the rough equivalent of an identifiable and substantially similar surcharge on intrastate commerce. However, respondents have failed to identify a specific charge on intrastate commerce equal to or exceeding the surcharge; the $0.85 per ton fee on in-state waste is only about one-third of the challenged surcharge. Even assuming that various other means of general taxation, such as state income taxes, could serve as a roughly equivalent intrastate burden, respondents' argument fails because the levies are not imposed on substantially equivalent events: Taxes on earning income and utilizing Oregon landfills are entirely different kinds of taxes. Nor can the surcharge be justified by respondents' argument that Oregon has a valid interest in spreading the costs of the disposal of Oregon waste, but not out-of-state waste, to all Oregonians. Because Oregon's scheme necessarily results in shippers of out-of-state waste bearing the full costs of disposal with shippers of Oregon waste bearing less than the full cost, it necessarily incorporates an illegitimate protectionist objective. Wyoming v. Oklahoma, 502 U. S. 437, 454. Recharacterizing the surcharge as "resource protectionism"—discouraging the importation of out-of-state waste in order to conserve more landfill space for in-state waste—hardly advances respondents' cause. A State may not accord its own inhabitants a preferred right of access over consumers in other States to its natural resources. Philadelphia v. New Jersey, 437 U. S. 617, 627. Sporhase v. Nebraska ex rel. Douglas, 458 U. S. 941, distinguished. Pp. 100-107. 316 Ore. 99, 849 P. 2d 500, reversed and remanded.
Thomas, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Stevens, O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, and Ginsburg, JJ., joined. Rehnquist, C. J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Blackmun, J., joined, post, p. 108.
Andrew J. Pincus argued the cause for petitioners in both cases. With him on the briefs for petitioners in No. 93-70 were James E. Benedict and J. Laurence Cable. John Di-Lorenzo, Jr., filed briefs for petitioner in No. 93-108.
Thomas A. Balmer, Deputy Attorney General of Oregon, argued the cause for respondents in both cases. With him on the brief were Theodore R. Kulongoski, Attorney Gen-
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