ELR Citation: ELR 21135
No(s). 89-CV-30015-PH (E.D. Mich. Mar 2, 1990)

The court holds that amendments to Michigan's Solid Waste Management Act requiring county approval for disposal of out-of-county waste do not violate the Commerce Clause. Because the county approval requirement applies equally to Michigan counties outside of the county adopting the plan and to out-of-state entities, it does not facially discriminate against interstate commerce. Further, the court finds that the county approval requirement does not pose a flat prohibition against importing out-of-state waste into Michigan's landfills and thus poses only incidental effects on interstate commerce. Since the plan is not a practical impossibility for out-of-state waste generators seeking to use Michigan's landfills, the incidental effect on interstate commerce is not excessive in relation to the benefits Michigan derives from the statute. The court also holds that a Michigan county did not unconstitutionally deny the plaintiff's waste disposal permit application. Weighed against the local benefits derived from the county's prohibition against importation of waste into its landfills, the permit denial is a valid exercise ofthe county's police power.

Counsel for Plaintiff
Daniel P. Perk, Robert A. Fineman
Honigman, Miller, Schwartz & Cohn
2290 First National Bank Bldg., Detroit MI 48226
(313) 256-7800

David R. Heyboer
Luce, Henderson, Bankson, Heyboer, Lane, Burleigh, Currier & Martinek
933 Pine Grove Ave., P.O. Box 610944, Port Huron MI 48061-0944
(313) 985-3333

Counsel for Defendants
Thomas J. Emery, Ass't Attorney General
Law Bldg., 6th Fl., P.O. Box 30212, Lansing MI 48909
(517) 373-1110

Terrence Houlahan
County Bldg., 201 McMorran Blvd., Room 301, Port Huron MI 48060
(313) 645-9400

Lawrence R. Ternan
Beier & Howlett
74 W. Long Lake Rd., Ste. 1, Bloomfield Hills MI 48013
(313) 645-9400