## Facts

- Envirosafe Services of Idaho, Inc. operated hazardous-waste disposal facilities in Owyhee County, Idaho.
- Idaho enacted the Hazardous Waste Management Act of 1983 (HWMA), creating statewide permitting, reporting, and operational requirements for hazardous-waste generation, transport, and disposal.
- Owyhee County adopted Ordinance No. 83-02 to regulate disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous waste, expressly including PCBs.
- The ordinance required disclosures by hazardous-waste facility operators and imposed fees, including a $0.01-per-pound charge on waste deposited in the county.
- Envirosafe paid fees under protest; the challenged amounts were held in a court-controlled trust account while the dispute proceeded.
- The district court issued a writ prohibiting enforcement of the ordinance, holding the HWMA and implementing regulations preempted local regulation and rendered the ordinance void.
- The county appealed, arguing it retained authority to regulate and charge fees in a manner consistent with state law.

## Issues

1. Whether the HWMA and its regulations show legislative intent to occupy the field of hazardous-waste disposal, preempting county regulation.
2. Whether the statewide hazardous-waste scheme also preempts county regulation of PCB disposal.
3. Whether the county’s per-pound fee and related local requirements are invalid as part of a preempted hazardous-waste regulatory program.

## Decision

- The Idaho Supreme Court affirmed the district court.
- The Court held the HWMA created a comprehensive, uniform statewide hazardous-waste regulatory scheme that preempted local regulation in the same field.
- Because PCBs were covered within the state’s hazardous-waste framework, the ordinance’s PCB provisions were also preempted.
- Ordinance No. 83-02, including its disclosure requirements and $0.01-per-pound fee, was void and could not be enforced.

## Legal Principles

- Field preemption applies when legislative intent, expressed through a comprehensive and uniform statutory and regulatory program, indicates the state has reserved exclusive authority over a subject.
- A local ordinance is invalid when it establishes an additional regulatory system in a field occupied by the state, even if the local requirements are parallel or duplicative.
- Where a statewide hazardous-waste program regulates substances within its definitions and implementing rules (including PCBs), local governments may not impose separate controls or fee-based regulatory conditions tied to that same subject matter.

## Conclusion

The court concluded that Idaho’s HWMA occupied the field of hazardous-waste management, including PCB disposal, and therefore barred Owyhee County from enforcing its ordinance’s regulatory and fee provisions against hazardous-waste facility operators.


Envirosafe Servs. of Idaho, Inc. v. County of Owyhee, 735 P.2d 998 (Idaho 1987)