Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources
Waste Management Committee
2007-2008 Committee Chair:
Stephen D. Mossman
[sdm@mattsonricketts.com]
Message from the Chair
Welcome to the ABA SEER Waste Management Committee. The Waste Management Committee consists of environmental practitioners who are interested in solid and hazardous waste management issues, particularly from a regulatory and compliance perspective.
I am currently serving as Chair of the Committee for a second term having served as Vice Chair for the last four years on this Committee and its predecessor, the Special Committee on Solid Waste. If you have questions about anything, please call me at (402) 475-8433 or e-mail me at sdm@mattsonricketts.com. The Committee Vice Chairs who have agreed to serve this year are listed in the leadership box to the right.
Committee Newsletter
Ted Hadzi-Antich and Andrew M. Kenefick are the Co-Vice Chairs of the Committee Newsletter. We intend to publish three newsletters this year with one coming out shortly highlighting a multi-year project involving a state by state special waste survey done in conjunction with the State and Regional Environmental Cooperation Committee. Publication dates of the remaining Newsletters will be on generally a quarterly basis. As the Newsletter is one of the major outreach activities of our committee, I would urge you to consider submitting materials to the Newsletter. Please e-mail Ted or Andrew if you have an interest.
The Year in Review
Brian M. Collins is the Vice Chair for the The Year in Review. Brian will be in charge of submitting the Committee’s entry for the The Year in Review. Like the Newsletter, the Year in Review is a major outreach activity of the Committee so I would encourage you to e-mail Brian with any help you may have for this submittal.
Programs/Technology
Mike McLaughlin and David Biderman are our Committee’s Co-Vice Chairs for Programs. Mike has completed with the State and Regional Environmental Cooperation Committee a state-by-state survey of special waste. The survey results will be the focus of the next Committee Newsletter. David has taken the lead on our Committee’s groundbreaking role in the changing face of the flow control of solid waste following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Opinion in the United Haulers’ case discussed in detail on this page. Please e-mail Mike or David with any program ideas, especially Quick Teleconferences. Mike is also our resident “Techie” both literally (Virginia Tech graduate) and figuratively.
Membership
Tom Bruen is our Committee’s Membership Vice Chair. Please have anyone interesting in becoming a Member of the Waste Management Committee send Tom an e-mail.
Public Service
Matt Klein is our Committee’s Public Service Vice Chair. Public service projects are one of the core goals of SEER. If you are aware of a public service project touching on waste management issues, please send Matt an e-mail. Matt is currently working on a public service project involving “Household E-Waste Collection Day”.
Vice Chairs at Large
The Waste Management Committee was pleased to recently announce the appointment of two additional Vice Chairs at Large, Mary Kay Lynch and Mikilin Espisoto. These Vice Chairs will complement the work of the Vice Chairs tasked with specific responsibilities. They can be contacted by e-mail using the leadership listing to the right.
Fall Meeting
I hope to see many of you in Pittsburgh for the 15th Section Fall Meeting, September 26-29, 2007. We will meet as a Committee in Pittsburgh to discuss the Committee activities at a Committee Get-Together Lunch on September 28th and will plan on dining as a Committee that same evening.
Thank you for your interest in the Committee.
Steve Mossman, Chair, ABA Waste Management Committee
U.S. Supreme Court Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court decision in the United Haulers flow control case was issued on April 30th, 2007. The Court, in a 6-3 Opinion, held that two New York solid waste flow control laws did not violate the dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Court adopted a “public-private” distinction between disposal facilities which narrowed the scope of the Court’s ruling in C&A Carbone v. Town of Clarkstown, 511 U.S. 383 (1994).
U.S. Supreme Court Agrees to Hear New York Flow Control Case
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review a federal appeals court decision involving the recurring issue of “flow control” – laws that force solid waste collectors to dispose waste at designated facilities. The Supreme Court’s decision is expected to provide important guidance to local governments, haulers and others concerning a local government’s authority under the dormant Commerce Clause to enforce flow control laws.
In 1994, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in C&A Carbone v. Town of Clarkstown, 511 U.S. 383 (1994) that Clarkstown, New York’s flow control law, which required all solid waste originating in the town be disposed at a local transfer station, violated the Commerce Clause. The Court concluded that the town law discriminated against interstate commerce because it prohibited out-of-state disposal facilities from competing for that waste.
The following year, in upstate New York, a group of solid waste haulers filed a lawsuit against the Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority, asserting that the Authority’s flow control laws were illegal under Carbone. While the federal district court initially ruled in favor of the haulers, the Second Circuit reversed, ruling that because the designated disposal facilities in Oneida-Herkimer were government-owned, the Carbone decision did not apply. Instead, the appeals court declared that such flow control laws are considered under a more lenient balancing test. United Haulers Association, Inc. v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Mgmt Authority, 261 F.3d 245 (2d Cir. 2001). The court issued a second decision in the case in early 2006. See 438 F.3d 150 (2d Cir. 2006).
Local governments in other parts of the country, eager to engage in flow control, began enacting similar laws. Other courts have issued decisions specifically disagreeing with the Second Circuit’s analysis in United Haulers. See, e.g., National Solid Wastes Mgmt. Assoc. v. Daviess County, 434 F.3d 898 (6 th Cir. 2006); National Solid Waste Mgmt. Assoc. v. Pine Belt Regional Solid Waste Mgmt. Auth., 261 F. Supp. 2d 644 (S.D. Miss. 2003), reversed on other grounds, 389 F.3d 491 (5 th Cir. 2004).
In September 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in the United Haulers case. The Court is expected to resolve the conflict over whether publicly-owned disposal facilities that are the beneficiaries of flow control are reviewed under a lesser legal standard. Oral argument in the case will take place in January 2007, with a decision expected by June 2007.
For additional information, please contact David Biderman, NSWMA General Counsel, at (202) 364-3743 or davidb@envasns.org.
The Waste Management Committee Web site will be periodically posting briefs filed in this case.
Case at a Glance: What Is the Proper Standard for Reviewing Flow-Control Restrictions on Solid Waste?
Posted in Preview from the ABA Division for Public Education
RCRA Regulation of Wastes from the Production, Use, and Disposal of Nanomaterials
The American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) is pleased to make available the results of a comprehensive review of the core federal environmental statutes to assess the suitability of each to address issues pertinent to human health and the environment arising from applications of nanotechnology. Earlier this year, the Section offered to brief representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of General Counsel (OGC) and pertinent other EPA representatives in EPA program offices on legal and regulatory issues arising in connection with the application of existing statutory and regulatory authorities to engineered nanoscale materials. Specifically, the Section offered to prepare detailed briefing documents on each of the six core environmental statutes, and a briefing document on innovative governance mechanisms, that identify key legal and regulatory issues EPA can be expected to encounter as it considers how best to address issues likely to arise in connection with nanotechnology.
Section Nanotechnology Project Home Page
RCRA Regulation of Wastes from the Production, Use, and Disposal of Nanomaterials
About the Committee
The Waste Management Committee consists of environmental practitioners who are interested in solid and hazardous waste management issues, particularly from a regulatory and compliance perspective. Those who advise clients on matters arising under Subtitle C or Subtitle D of RCRA, or similar state programs, will find the work of the Committee informative as we consider emerging issues, regulatory and statutory changes, and litigation that affects waste generators, transporters, and treatment, storage and disposal facilities.
The Waste Management Committee conducts formal and informal education programs, and produces a newsletter and other material to address these issues. Members include practitioners in private practice, in-house counsel, trade association counsel, and governmental attorneys, and thus the Committee provides a broad network for keeping abreast of the latest legal and regulatory developments in the solid and hazardous waste industry.
Publications
Waste Management Committee Newsletter
Provides timely and substantive articles regarding solid and hazardous waste issues, including interstate movement of solid wastes, flow control, environmental justice, industry consolidation, new definitions of solid and hazardous wastes, recycling, permitting, corrective action, and similar issues. View our latest newsletter.
Links of Interest
U.S. EPA’s municipal solid waste web site:
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/index.htm
Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA)
http://www.swana.org
National Solid Wastes Management Association, or NSWMA
http://www.nswma.org
International Solid Waste Association (ISWA)
http://www.iswa.org
Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials (ASTSWMO)
http://www.astswmo.org/
Waste News
http://www.wastenews.com
Solid Waste
http://www.solidwaste.com
Environmental Information, Ltd
http://www.envirobiz.com
Waste Management Navigation
Leadership
Chair:
Stephen D. Mossman
Vice Chairs:
Committee Newsletters
Theodore L. Hadzi-Antich
Membership
Thomas M. Bruen
Programs
David S. Biderman
Public Service
Matthew T. Klein
Technology
Michael W. McLaughlin
The Year in Review
Brian M. Collins
Additional (At Large)
Mikilin M. Esposito
Mary Kay Lynch
