Carpenter v. Commonwealth

831 S.W.2d 188, 1992 Ky. App. LEXIS 88, 1992 WL 85801
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kentucky
DecidedMay 1, 1992
DocketNo. 90-CA-1267-DG
StatusPublished

This text of 831 S.W.2d 188 (Carpenter v. Commonwealth) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Carpenter v. Commonwealth, 831 S.W.2d 188, 1992 Ky. App. LEXIS 88, 1992 WL 85801 (Ky. Ct. App. 1992).

Opinion

WILHOIT, Judge.

The appellant, Raymond Carpenter, operates a solid waste landfill in Fleming County, Kentucky. He obtained a permit from the Cabinet for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection, but failed to comply with Fleming County Fiscal Court Ordinance No. 89-4, which required obtaining a license from the fiscal court. Mr. Carpenter was cited for his violation of Ordinance No. 89-4. After a hearing in district court, Carpenter was found guilty and fined for 56 separate violations of the ordinance. The circuit court affirmed, and this Court granted discretionary review to consider two issues: (1) whether KRS 224.033 (renumbered as KRS 224.10-100) preempts local license fees authorized by 68.178(2), and (2) whether KRS 68.178, upon which Ordinance 89-4 is based, is constitutional.

Carpenter contends that because KRS Chapter 224 grants the Cabinet for Natural Resources and Environmental Protection such comprehensive authority in regulating solid waste management facilities, local governments are preempted from exercising authority in this field. Both parties point to Commonwealth v. Do, Inc., Ky., 674 S.W.2d 519 (1984), as stating the law on preemption. Like the scheme under review in Commonwealth v. Do, Inc., the legislature has given the Cabinet broad authority in the regulation of solid waste in addition to granting local governing bodies authority in solid waste management. The Cabinet is the “official planning and management agency ... in the field of solid waste ... [and] shall have primary responsibility for coordinating the solid waste planning and management activities of waste management districts, counties ... and for the approval of solid waste management facilities.” KRS 224.43-310(1). Chapter 224.43 contains provisions whereby local governing bodies are authorized to regulate solid waste disposal. See, e.g., KRS 224.43-340 which directs each county or solid waste management district to prepare a solid waste management plan for approval by the Cabinet. Local governing bodies are not preempted from regulating solid waste management facilities. See [190]*190Commonwealth v. Do, Inc., 674 S.W.2d at 521. Since counties may regulate solid waste facilities, it follows that KRS 68.178, which allows counties to assess license fees for solid waste landfills, is not inconsistent with Chapter 224.43. Our conclusion is bolstered by a recent amendment to KRS 224.43-310, which directs each governing body, beginning January 1, 1993, to report annually to the Cabinet regarding, among other concerns, the fees assessed and collected for solid waste management. KRS 224.43-310(5)(f).

Carpenter contends that KRS 68.178 violates the Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution. KRS 68.178(2) provides as follows:

(a) The fiscal court of a county or the urban-county council of an urban-county government may license a solid waste landfill located within the county or urban-county area. The license fee may be set at not less than one cent (1$) but no more than fifty cents (50$) per ton of waste received by the landfill or set at up to five percent (5%) of gross receipts of the landfill.
(b) The license fee as set may be increased by an amount up to one-quarter (¼) of the base fee per ton or on gross receipts of waste received at the landfill which originates from outside of the planning area. For purposes of this section, planning area shall mean those areas within Kentucky as indicated in solid waste management plans filed with the cabinet by a county, multi-county area, or waste management district. However, before a fee differential may be imposed the county or urban-county government shall demonstrate that the differential is reasonably related to additional government services which must be undertaken because of the landfilling of non-planning area waste. This demonstration may be made by showing an unplanned for reduction in waste disposal capacity and a need to provide for future disposal capacity or impacts on roads, litter control or emergency services.

Fleming County Ordinance No. 89-4, under which Carpenter was cited, stated that it was adopted, inter alia, to assure adequate solid waste disposal capacity and further stated that “the transportation of solid waste from outside the planning area will produce wear and tear on the roads of Fleming County.” The county assesses an annual license fee of 5% of the actual gross receipts of the facility. For gross receipts from solid waste originating from outside the planning area, the license fee is increased an additional 1.25%.

Carpenter asserts that KRS 68.-178 is facially discriminatory and has a discriminatory effect on interstate commerce. A state statute which is merely an economic protectionist measure will be declared invalid per se as violative of the Commerce Clause. H.P. Hood & Sons, Inc. v. Du Mond, 336 U.S. 525, 537-38, 69 S.Ct. 657, 664-65, 93 L.Ed. 865 (1949). The United States Supreme Court stated the general rule to determine whether a statute is violative of the Commerce Clause as follows:

Where the statute regulates even-hand-edly to effectuate a legitimate local public interest, and its effects on interstate commerce are only incidental, it will be upheld unless the burden imposed on such commerce is clearly excessive in relation to the putative local benefits. (Citation omitted.) If a legitimate local purpose is found, then the question becomes one of degree. And the extent of the burden that will be tolerated will of course depend on the nature of the local interest involved, and on whether it could be promoted as well with a lesser impact on interstate activities.

Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc., 397 U.S. 137, 142, 90 S.Ct. 844, 847, 25 L.Ed.2d 174, 178 (1970). Using this rule, the Court reviewed a New Jersey statute which banned the importation of most out-of-state liquid or solid waste. City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey, 437 U.S. 617, 98 S.Ct. 2531, 57 L.Ed.2d 475 (1978).

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H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc. v. Du Mond
336 U.S. 525 (Supreme Court, 1949)
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Goldberg v. Sweet
488 U.S. 252 (Supreme Court, 1989)
American Trucking Ass'n v. Commonwealth, Transportation Cabinet
676 S.W.2d 785 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 1984)
Commonwealth v. Do, Inc.
674 S.W.2d 519 (Kentucky Supreme Court, 1984)
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Bluebook (online)
831 S.W.2d 188, 1992 Ky. App. LEXIS 88, 1992 WL 85801, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/carpenter-v-commonwealth-kyctapp-1992.