New York v. United States

1992

Venue: SCOTUS
Facts: Some days you just can't get rid of radioactive waste. The governors of the three sites (NV, WA, SC) where waste can be disposed all want to curtail things. Conress enacts a policy aimed at getting states to take care of this problem themselves. It includes:
  1. Monetary incentives: each state pays a surcharge for waste handling. 25% of this is paid back to the states that comply with the relevant deadlines.
  2. Access incentives: states that fail to comply with deadlines will be denied access to some disposal facilities.
  3. Take title: put this off long enough, and THE STATE will magically become the owner of the waste, not the corporations/individuals that produced it.
Posture: NY files suit saying this violates 10A. Dismissed by district court, affirmed on appeal.
Issue: Can congress direct the states to regulate something rather than regulating it themselves? Can they do so in this way?
Holding: Congress can use its commerce powers to create economic incentives, but the take-title provision crosses the line.
Rule: Congress has the power to regulate people, not states.
Reasoning: The spending power can attach conditions to federal funding, so that's OK. Congress can regulate private activity under the commerce clause. So the first incentive is OK.

The second incentive is also OK-- congress can authorize the states to discriminate against interstate commerce.

Take-title is different: congress can't impress the states into its service. Federal courts can force states to comply with federal law, but congress can not.
Dicta: Dissent: we need action on this issue, not rhetoric.