Wisconsin Solid Waste Recycling Authority v. Earl

235 N.W.2d 648, 70 Wis. 2d 464, 1975 Wisc. LEXIS 1345
CourtWisconsin Supreme Court
DecidedNovember 25, 1975
Docket75-52
StatusPublished
Cited by33 cases

This text of 235 N.W.2d 648 (Wisconsin Solid Waste Recycling Authority v. Earl) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wisconsin Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wisconsin Solid Waste Recycling Authority v. Earl, 235 N.W.2d 648, 70 Wis. 2d 464, 1975 Wisc. LEXIS 1345 (Wis. 1975).

Opinions

Wilkie, C. J.

This action calls for a declaration of rights in regard to the Wisconsin Solid Waste Recycling [469]*469Authority enactment of the 1973 legislature. We affirm the constitutionality of that legislation and order an injunction issued directing Anthony S. Earl, Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Administration, to honor petitioner’s request for funds implementing this legislation.

In this declaratory judgment action, the petitioner, the Wisconsin Solid Waste Recycling Authority, seeks a declaration that:

1. The Authority is a public body corporate and politic legally and validly created and existing pursuant to ch. 305, Laws of 1973; that all notes and bonds issued by the Authority in accordance with applicable procedures are valid and enforceable obligations of the Authority; and that the purposes to which the proceeds of the Authority’s debt may be applied are lawful purposes;

2. the provisions of the act are consistent with all provisions of the Wisconsin and United States Constitutions ; and

3. the secretary is legally obligated to issue a warrant for the $500,000 appropriated to the Authority by secs. 2 and 3 of the act.

The basic facts are all stipulated by the parties. In February of 1972, in response to a request from the governor, a Recycling Task Force submitted a feasibility report which was followed in May of 1973 by a predesign engineering report, both of which reports included recommendations and possible plans for a solid waste recycling program for the state. The task force and the board of engineering consultants, which authored the predesign report, found, among other things, that waste quantities are rapidly increasing. For example, waste quantities (exclusive of agriculture and mining wastes) for the entire state are estimated at 12,825 tons per day in 1975, and 17,200 tons per day in 1985. Further, disposal costs are increasing and disposal sites are more difficult to [470]*470obtain. The board report includes information (based on a report made to Congress by the Environmental Protection Agency) that if recycled materials were used in the production of steel, for example, there could be a 90 percent reduction in the amount of virgin materials consumed, a 40 percent reduction in the amount of water used, a 74 percent reduction in energy consumed, an 86 percent reduction in air pollution, and a 76 percent reduction in water pollution.

The legislature responded to the recommendations of the task force, board, and governor by enacting ch. 305, Laws of 1973 (hereinafter the act), effective June 19, 1974, creating and granting powers to the Wisconsin Solid Waste Recycling Authority. The act is an additional step in a series of determinations by the legislature that the problems of solid waste and environmental control are matters of statewide concern which deserve legislative attention. This attention was evidenced by the authority given to the Department of Natural Resources by ch. 83, Laws of 1967, to implement a program of solid waste management, by secs. 59.07 (135) and 144.435, Stats., giving counties the power to establish solid waste management plans, and by the Wisconsin Environmental Protection Act, sec. 1.11.

According to the stipulated facts, the basic outline of the provisions of the act is as follows:

“A. Organization.
“The Authority is a' ‘public body corporate and politic’ consisting of seven members appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate for staggered six-year terms. One member must be recommended by the County Boards Association, one member by the League of Municipalities and a third member by the Towns Association. The Authority may not employ more than 40 persons. No law terminating the existence of the Authority shall take effect while the Authority has obligations outstanding. The Authority has a continuing legislative appropriation of $500,000 for general program [471]*471operations. This appropriation is to be repaid to the State general fund from the Authority’s surplus, if any, as is determined pursuant to agreement between the Authority and the Secretary. The annual administrative costs for the Authority shall not exceed $600,000. See Sections 2 and 3, Chapter 305 and Sections 499.02, 499.073, 499.335, Wis. Stats.
“B. General Jurisdiction and Limitations.
“As set forth in Section 499.07, the Authority has all powers necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes of the Act, inlcuding without limitation, the power to adopt and publish rules, to coordinate all solid waste recycling activities within recycling regions, to sell or market the products and by-products of recycling facilities, to acquire, construct, develop and operate recycling facilities, to conduct necessary hearings and investigations and to appoint state and local advisory councils. The Authority has no jurisdiction or power to collect or purchase solid wastes. In general, it can accomplish its purposes through virtually any type of contractual arrangement with private persons or other public entities, as well as through its own personnel, subject in some but not all cases to competitive bidding requirements. The Authority is required to utilize private industry to the maximum extent feasible to perform planning, design, management, construction, operation, manufacturing and marketing functions related to solid waste disposal and recycling and to assist in the development of industrial enterprise based on recycling.
“No person may acquire, construct, alter, reconstruct or operate a municipal solid waste recycling facility within a region established by the Authority without prior consultation with the Authority. Facilities owned or used by the Authority are exempted from all municipal ordinances except zoning ordinances. The Authority has no jurisdiction with respect to solid waste disposal or recycling facilities in areas of the state outside the regions then established by the Authority.
“The Authority is required to afford municipalities cooperation in the transition from municipal management of solid waste to recycling in-regions which are established by the Authority, and is required to provide assistance to the Department of Local Affairs and De[472]*472velopment and the DNR in carrying out their statutory responsibilities under Section 144.435. Further, upon establishment of operating facilities in regions established by the Authority, the Authority is required to purchase certain municipal solid waste disposal facilities upon offer by a municipality.
“The Board of Engineering Consultants estimated that the total capital costs of a state-wide program of regional recycling systems would be approximately $120,000,000, in terms of 1973 dollars.
“The actions and activities of the Authority and its contractors must conform to policies and rules of the DNR. The Authority’s user rates, charges and rentals are subject to approval by the Public Service Commission.

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Bluebook (online)
235 N.W.2d 648, 70 Wis. 2d 464, 1975 Wisc. LEXIS 1345, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wisconsin-solid-waste-recycling-authority-v-earl-wis-1975.