Oregon Waste Systems, Inc., et al. v. Department of Environmental Quality of the State of Oregon et al.

Decided April 4, 1994. Clarence Thomas delivered the opinion of the Court.

Docket 93-70 · 511 U.S. 93 (1994) · Cited 799 times

Holding

Oregon’s surcharge is facially invalid under the negative Commerce Clause.

The Court’s statement of the holding, from the opinion’s syllabus. The syllabus is prepared by the Reporter of Decisions and is not part of the opinion of the Court — read the official opinion for authority.

How the Justices voted

Decided 7–2.

“Concurring” means agreeing with the outcome; any split shown is the Court’s judgment, not each Justice’s reasoning. Source: the Supreme Court Database (Spaeth et al.), Washington University.

Precedents cited

Supreme Court decisions this opinion relies on, ordered by how often it cites each. Cases in our collection link through; others are named.

• Chemical Waste Management, Inc. v. Hunt · 504 U.S. 334 (1992)
• City of Philadelphia v. New Jersey · 437 U.S. 617 (1978)
• Maryland v. Louisiana · 451 U.S. 725 (1981)
• Sporhase v. Nebraska Ex Rel. Douglas · 458 U.S. 941 (1982)
• Evansville-Vanderburgh Airport Authority District v. Delta Airlines, Inc. · 405 U.S. 707 (1972)
• Henneford v. Silas Mason Co. · 300 U.S. 577 (1937)
• Armco Inc. v. Hardesty · 467 U.S. 638 (1984)
• Hughes v. Oklahoma · 441 U.S. 322 (1979)
• Wyoming v. Oklahoma · 502 U.S. 437 (1992)
• Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc. · 397 U.S. 137 (1970)
• Maine v. Taylor · 477 U.S. 131 (1986)
• New Energy Co. of Indiana v. Limbach · 486 U.S. 269 (1988)
• Commonwealth Edison Co. v. Montana · 453 U.S. 609 (1981)
• Fort Gratiot Sanitary Landfill, Inc. v. Michigan Department of Natural Resources · 504 U.S. 353 (1992)
• H. P. Hood & Sons, Inc. v. Du Mond · 336 U.S. 525 (1949)
• Clark v. Paul Gray, Inc. · 306 U.S. 583 (1939)
• American Trucking Assns., Inc. v. Scheiner · 483 U.S. 266 (1987)
• Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. County of Kent · 510 U.S. 355 (1994)
• Guy v. Baltimore · 100 U.S. 434 (1880)
• Hunt v. Washington State Apple Advertising Commission · 432 U.S. 333 (1977)
• Flast v. Cohen · 392 U.S. 83 (1968)
• Complete Auto Transit, Inc. v. Brady · 430 U.S. 274 (1977)
• Toomer v. Witsell · 334 U.S. 385 (1948)
• Bacchus Imports, Ltd. v. Dias · 468 U.S. 263 (1984)
• Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona Ex Rel. Sullivan · 325 U.S. 761 (1945)
• Northwestern States Portland Cement Co. v. Minnesota · 358 U.S. 450 (1959)
• Western Live Stock v. Bureau of Revenue · 303 U.S. 250 (1938)
• Hughes v. Alexandria Scrap Corp. · 426 U.S. 794 (1976)
• Baldwin v. Fish and Game Comm'n of Mont. · 436 U.S. 371 (1978)
• Boston Stock Exchange v. State Tax Commission · 429 U.S. 318 (1977)

Cited by

Later Supreme Court opinions in our collection that cite this case.

• Fulton Corp. v. Faulkner · 516 U.S. 325 (1996)
• United Haulers Ass'n v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management Authority · 550 U.S. 330 (2007)
• Camps Newfound/Owatonna, Inc. v. Town of Harrison · 520 U.S. 564 (1997)
• Department of Revenue of Kentucky v. Davis · 553 U.S. 328 (2008)
• Comptroller of Treasury of Md. v. Wynne · 575 U.S. 542 (2015)
• Tennessee Wine and Spirits Retailers Assn. v. Thomas · 588 U.S. 504 (2019)
• General Motors Corp. v. Tracy · 519 U.S. 278 (1997)
• Granholm v. Heald · 544 U.S. 460 (2005)
• American Trucking Associations, Inc. v. Michigan Public Service Commission · 545 U.S. 429 (2005)

Official text

Read the official opinion (U.S. Reports, govinfo.gov)

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Source: Supreme Court of the United States, slip opinions (1994). Citation count from the Free Law Project’s CourtListener bulk data. Data last verified 2026-07-03. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).