Supreme Court Declines to Hear Virginia Waste Case

Date: March 7, 2002

Source: News Room

Supreme Court justices have refused, without comment, to consider reviving state of Virginia waste restrictions that had been struck down by an appeals court. Virginia passed laws in 1999 designed to keep out large shipments of imported trash, including waste from New York City. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond struck down the laws that limited out-of-state waste, tightened restrictions on large trash-hauling trucks and banned garbage barges from three Virginia rivers. "Virginia will lose control of the content of its landfills, and its sovereign interest in regulating the public health will be compromised," Virginia lawyers told the Supreme Court in court filings. They also contended that New York interfered with the market by closing its landfill and restricting garbage transport. New York was not involved in the lawsuit. Waste Management Holdings Inc., which has handled New York's trash, was one of the companies that challenged the laws.

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