Yesterday, a 3-judge panel on the North Carolina Court of Appeals unanimously affirmed a trial court decision in Waste Industries v. NC upholding the constitutionality of a state law that limits the size and location of new large landfills built in the state. The Rogers-Eubanks Neighborhood Association and the NC NAACP had intervened in the litigation to defend the law, passed in 2007, because large landfills are often sited in low-income, minority communities. The NAACP had pushed the General Assembly to consider environmental justice when dealing with new landfills. The decision from the Court of Appeals expressly recognized the environmental justice protections provided by the challenged statutes.
Attached is the May 1 opinion from the Court of Appeals.
Attached file/s:
Waste Industries Opinion 5 1 2012.pdf