IESI PA Bethlehem Landfill Corp. v. County of Lehigh

887 A.2d 1289, 2005 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 745
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedDecember 14, 2005
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 887 A.2d 1289 (IESI PA Bethlehem Landfill Corp. v. County of Lehigh) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
IESI PA Bethlehem Landfill Corp. v. County of Lehigh, 887 A.2d 1289, 2005 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 745 (Pa. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION BY

Senior Judge McCLOSKEY.

IESI PA Bethlehem Landfill Corporation, Chirin Brothers, Inc., Chirin Hauling, Inc., Grand Central Sanitary Landfill, Inc., Pine Grove Landfill, Inc., Waste Management Disposal Services of Pennsylvania, Inc., Waste Management of Pennsylvania, Inc., Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association, Berger Sanitation, Inc., Royer Sanitation, Len Symons & Sons Sanitation and Pennsylvania Independent Waste Haulers Association (Appellants), appeal from the May 12, 2005, and July 21, 2005, orders of the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County (trial court) granting summary judgment in favor of the County of Lehigh (Lehigh County).1, 2 For the reasons that follow, we reverse and remand.

Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association, a trade association of private landfill owners and operators, and Pennsylvania Waste Haulers Association, a trade association of waste haulers and transporters, commenced a declaratory judgment action against Lehigh County challenging its administrative fee and waste hauler licensing scheme. Later, the parties agreed to amend the action to add various landfill operators and waste haulers that serviced [1291]*1291Lehigh County. The amended action for declaratory judgment is set forth at R.R. 111a.

In 1996, Lehigh County adopted a solid waste management plan (the Plan) and a waste management licensing ordinance (the Ordinance). Both authorized Lehigh County to impose an administrative fee to be paid by waste haulers to subsidize the programs of the Lehigh County Office of Solid Waste Management. The Plan cites its enabling authority as the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act (Act 101).3 The Ordinance cites its enabling authority as the Plan and Act 101.

In 1997, Lehigh County imposed a $.75 per ton administrative fee on waste haulers. In 2002, Lehigh County increased the fee to $1.25 per ton, and in 2003, the fee was increased to $2.75 per ton. In 2003, the manner in which the fee was collected was revised. Waste haulers were responsible for paying an administrative fee of $1.25 per ton on all waste collected and delivered. Additionally, designated disposal facilities were responsible for an administrative fee of $1.50 per ton on all Lehigh County municipal waste accepted and disposed of at their facilities.

The Plan also authorized the adoption of a licensing program to license waste haulers and vehicles. Pursuant to Section 4 of the Plan, to obtain a hauler license, transporters must establish that they meet certain standards as to insurance and vehicle information. Section 6.1 of the Plan sets forth the hauler license fee. The fee is “$30.00 plus $10.00 per vehicle if operating with Small Vehicles only. If operating with any vehicles other than Small Vehicles, the Hauler License Fee is set at $250.00, $25.00 per vehicle.” (R.R. at 37a).

Appellants and Lehigh County both filed motions for summary judgment with the trial court. Lehigh County first alleged that Appellants did not have standing to bring the declaratory judgment action. Lehigh County then filed a separate motion for summary judgment, alleging that the amended complaint failed to state a cause of action on which relief could be granted. Appellants filed a motion for summary judgment seeking judgment on Counts I, II, III, and V, of the amended declaratory judgment action. Appellants claimed that Lehigh County did not have the authority to adopt administrative and licensing fees.

The trial court denied Appellants’ motion for summary judgment. It further denied Lehigh County’s motion as to standing. However, the trial court granted Lehigh County’s motion for summary judgment regarding failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The trial court determined that Lehigh County’s administrative fee and its waste hauler licensing scheme were a valid exercise of its authority.

Summary judgment is appropriate when the record demonstrates that there are no genuine issues of fact to be resolved and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. Dean v. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, 561 Pa. 503, 751 A.2d 1130 (2000). Our scope of review of a decision of a trial court is limited to a determination of whether constitutional rights were violated or whether the trial court abused its discretion or committed an error of law. Gibbs v. Ernst, 538 Pa. 193, 647 A.2d 882 (1994).

On appeal to this Court, Appellants allege the trial court erred in granting summary judgment based on its determination [1292]*1292that Act 101 did not preempt counties from imposing an administrative fee to fund their planning and recycling programs. Appellants also allege that the Plan and the Ordinance do not contain provisions for assessing administrative fees on disposal facilities and are, thus, ultra vires. Appellants further allege that Lehigh County’s waste hauler licensing scheme, which imposes both licensing requirements and additional fees on waste transporters, is preempted by the Waste Transportation Safety Act (Act 90), 27 Pa.C.S. S § 6201-6209.

In determining whether the legislature intended to preempt counties from funding their own programs outside the scope of Act 101 or Act 90, we need to consider the following:

Pertinent questions in determining the preemption issues are: (1) Does the ordinance conflict with the state law, either because of conflicting policies or operation effect, that is, does the ordinance forbid what the legislature has permitted? (2) Was the state law intended expressly or impliedly to be exclusive in the field? (3) Does the subject matter reflect a need for uniformity? (4) Is the state scheme so pervasive or comprehensive that it precludes coexistence of municipal regulation? (5) Does the ordinance stand as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of the legislature.

Duff v. Township of Northampton, 110 Pa.Cmwlth. 277, 532 A.2d 500, 505 (1987), affirmed without opinion, 520 Pa. 79, 550 A.2d 1319 (1988).

In Pennsylvania Independent Waste Haulers Association v. County of Northumberland, 885 A.2d 1106 (Pa.Cmwlth.2005), this Court very recently decided that Act 101 does preempt a municipal authority from imposing its own administrative fee on waste haulers to help fund recycling programs. We determined that Act 101 provides a comprehensive recycling plan and that the legislature did not intend it to be supplemented by municipal bodies. As such, we concluded that an administrative body could only impose a fee if it is expressly authorized by the Act, and Act 101 provided no such authority.

In accordance with our opinion in Pennsylvania Independent Waste Haulers Association, we conclude that the trial court in the instant case erred in holding that Lehigh County’s administrative fee was not preempted by Act 101.4

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

A. Ziegler v. City of Reading and Reading Area Water Authority
142 A.3d 119 (Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, 2016)
In re Iezzi
504 B.R. 777 (E.D. Pennsylvania, 2014)
Pennsylvania Waste Industries Ass'n v. Monroe County Municipal Waste Management Authority
28 Pa. D. & C.5th 154 (Monroe County Court of Common Pleas, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
887 A.2d 1289, 2005 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 745, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/iesi-pa-bethlehem-landfill-corp-v-county-of-lehigh-pacommwct-2005.