Pennsylvania Independent Waste Haulers Ass'n v. County of Northumberland

885 A.2d 1106, 2005 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 614
CourtCommonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedOctober 14, 2005
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 885 A.2d 1106 (Pennsylvania Independent Waste Haulers Ass'n v. County of Northumberland) 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
Pennsylvania Independent Waste Haulers Ass'n v. County of Northumberland, 885 A.2d 1106, 2005 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 614 (Pa. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

OPINION BY

Senior Judge McCLOSKEY.

County of Northumberland, County of Union, Snyder County Solid Waste Management Authority (Snyder), County of Columbia and County of Montour (collectively Appellants) appeal from an order of the Court of Common Pleas of Lycoming County (trial court) which granted the motion for summary judgment of Pennsylvania Independent Waste Haulers Association (Appellee) and denied the motions for summary judgment filed by Appellants.1

Appellants entered into separate contracts with Lycoming County relating to [1108]*1108the disposal of municipal waste generated in each of their respective counties. Pursuant to the contracts, the waste in each of the counties was to be disposed of at a landfill owned and operated by Lycoming County.2 Under the terms of the contracts, Lycoming County was to impose a county administrative fee in addition to various disposal and recycling fees. The administrative fee was to be collected from each waste hauler that delivered waste to the landfill from each respective county and the landfill operator was then to remit the fee to Appellants.

Waste haulers that are members of Ap-pellee’s Association have been subjected to the administrative fee. Lycoming County was directed by Appellants Northumber-land County, Columbia County and Mont-our County to collect $3.00 per ton for the administrative fee. Union County and Snyder County requested $2.00 per ton. Appellants alleged that this fee was imposed to help fund their recycling programs, which are part of their waste management plans. Appellants alleged that they are authorized to impose a fee. Ap-pellee challenged the payment of this fee by asserting that the levying of fees in the field of solid waste management had been preempted by the state legislature.

The contracts stated that Appellants were adopting and implementing a municipal waste management plan pursuant to the Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act (Act 101).3 The contracts further stated that Appellants had entered into the contracts in furtherance of their responsibilities under Act 101.

The trial court determined that municipal powers have been preempted by Act 101, with respect to the funding of recycling programs and that Appellants may only impose an administrative fee if such fee is authorized under Act 101.4 As the trial court found that Act 101 did not authorize such a fee, summary judgment was granted in favor of Appellee.

Appellants each raise the issue of whether the trial court committed an error of law, or an abuse of discretion, when it held that Act 101 preempts Appellants from imposing a fee to offset the costs of recycling. Appellant Snyder further argues that Appellee did not have standing to bring this action and that Appellant Snyder, as a municipal authority, has broad legislative powers to carry out its purposes and projects.5

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).

[1109]*1109The Pennsylvania legislature preempted municipal power and responsibility to regulate the transportation, processing, treatment and disposal of solid waste through the Solid Waste Management Act (SWMA),6 and the the legislature then enacted Act 101 to give counties the responsibility to plan for the processing and disposal of municipal waste generated within their boundaries. Kasper Brothers, Inc. v. Falls Township, 672 A.2d 1386 (Pa.Cmwlth.1996), petition for allowance of appeal denied, 546 Pa. 649, 683 A.2d 886 (1996). Accordingly, municipal authorities only have the power expressly granted to them through to SWMA and Act 101. Id., at 1389.

In Municipality of Monroeville v. Chambers Development Corporation, 88 Pa.Cmwlth. 603, 491 A.2d 307 (1985), the operator of a landfill sought to enjoin enforcement of an ordinance regulating the days and hours the landfill could be open. This Court determined as follows:

Given the legislature’s specific, detailed provision that municipalities may regulate the “storage” and “collection” of solid waste, and the obvious omission of any other permitted areas, we conclude that the legislature did not intend municipalities to have the power to regulate any aspects of the operation of a sanitary landfill.

Id. at 311. Accordingly we concluded that the ordinance was preempted by the SWMA.

Also, in Kasper Brothers, Inc., we determined that Act 101 only granted the authority to impose a licensing fee on operators of waste hauler vehicles which were operating in the county. The ordinance at issue sought to impose a licensing fee on vehicles that merely traveled through the township. The trial court interpreted Act 101 to allow licensing of waster haulers “operating within the boundaries of the municipality,” but found that operating within the boundaries did not mean just driving through the municipality, but meant actually conducting activities within the boundaries of the municipality. Kasper Brothers, Inc., 672 A.2d at 1389. We agreed with the trial court and concluded that Act 101 provided neither the county nor the township the authority to impose such an ordinance.

Appellants claim that they may impose their own fee on waste haulers to help fund their recycling programs. In determining whether the legislature intended to preempt counties from developing their own funding for recycling programs outside the scope of Act 101, 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).

Act 101 provides extensive regulation as to waste and recycling. This includes the establishment of “a recycling fee for mu[1110]

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Bluebook (online)
885 A.2d 1106, 2005 Pa. Commw. LEXIS 614, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/pennsylvania-independent-waste-haulers-assn-v-county-of-northumberland-pacommwct-2005.