June 4, 2001 - The three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that laws limiting out-of-state waste, tightening restrictions on large trash-hauling trucks and banning garbage barges from three Virginia rivers are unconstitutional.

Those rulings upheld a February 2000 decision by U.S. District Judge James Spencer, who found that each of the statutes violated either the commerce clause or the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The Virginia General Assembly, alarmed by Virginia's status as the second-biggest trash importer in the nation, passed the laws in 1999. Adding to the legislators' concern was New York City's plan to close its Fresh Kills Landfill and send much of its garbage to large, regional landfills in Virginia.

Republican Gov. Jim Gilmore pushed the restrictions, declaring that ``the home state of Washington, Jefferson and Madison has no intention of becoming  the nation's dumping grounds.''

After the legislature passed the laws, attorneys for Waste Management Holdings Inc. and other entities involved in importing waste into Virginia sued. They argued that the laws discriminated against out-of-state waste and amounted to an unconstitutional restriction on interstate commerce.

Spencer agreed and issued a summary judgment in the plaintiffs' favor; the state appealed.

The appeals panel found that ``no reasonable juror could find that in enacting the statutory provisions at issue Virginia's General Assembly acted without a discriminatory purpose.''


sources: A.P. and 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion

Feb 03, 2000 - Federal Judge throws out Virginia Trash Laws/Virginia will Appeal the decision