DocketNumber: No. 2008CA00011.
Citation Numbers: 2008 Ohio 6585
Judges: HOFFMAN, P.J.<page_number>Page 2</page_number>
Filed Date: 12/15/2008
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/6/2016
{¶ 3} On December 13, 2006, NSWMA filed a complaint in the Stark County Court of Common Pleas against the STW District seeking a declaration that the STW District local rules were invalid and unenforceable. The matter proceeded to a bench trial. Via Judgment Entry of December 18, 2007, the trial court denied NSWMA's request to declare the STW District's rules void and unenforceable. However, the trial court agreed immediate compliance was "impossible" and extended the effective date of the recycling rule until June 1, 2009.
{¶ 4} Appellant now appeals, assigning as error:
{¶ 5} "I. THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED PREJUDICIAL ERROR IN GRANTING JUDGMENT TO THE STW DISTRICT UPHOLDING THE DISTRICT'S *Page 3 RULES BECAUSE AS A MATTER OF LAW THOSE RULES BECAME UNENFORCEABLE AFTER OHIO EPA ISSUED ITS SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE DISTRICT IN DECEMBER 2006.
{¶ 6} "II. THE TRIAL COURT COMMITTED PREJUDICIAL ERROR IN UPHOLDING THE STW DISTRICT'S RECYCLING RULE BECAUSE THAT RULE EXCEEDS THE DISTRICT'S LIMITED RULEMAKING AUTHORITY AND VIOLATES PLAINTIFF'S DUE PROCESS RIGHTS.
{¶ 7} "III. THE TRIAL COURT ERRED IN GRANTING JUDGMENT TO THE STW DISTRICT BECAUSE RULES 9.02 AND 9.03 INVADE THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF THE OHIO EPA TO REGULATE THE OPERATION AND DESIGN OF LANDFILLS IN OHIO."
{¶ 8} In its complaint filed with the Stark County Court of Common Pleas Appellant questions the authority of the STW District to adopt and enforce local rules 9.02, 9.03 or 9.04 restricting the use and operation of landfills in the three-county area.
{¶ 9} Solid waste districts are political subdivisions created purely by statute. They operate according to plans developed in conjunction with the Ohio EPA. The required contents of a waste management plan are dictated by statute. Such plans may provide for the adoption of rules by the local district. A statutory timetable dictates when plans must be prepared and submitted to the Director of the Ohio EPA for approval. If the plan is not approved by the Director, the Director is empowered to create a plan for the local district. If the local district fails to implement a plan formulated by the Director, the Director shall issue an enforcement order requiring certain action by the district until an amended plan is put into place. *Page 4
{¶ 10} The STW District obtained Ohio EPA approval of its initial solid waste management plan in 1993. However, the District failed to obtain approval of any subsequent 5-year amended plan. Amended plans were due in 1998 and 2003 (the submitted plans were rejected). The Ohio EPA eventually notified the District it was taking over the planning process. Eventually, the STW District and the Director negotiated a "Memorandum of Understanding" (MOU) on September 26, 2005. The MOU set forth the process under which the Ohio EPA would prepare and issue its plan for the District. Over the objections of Appellant NSWMA, the STW District adopted the rules under dispute on November 3, 2006.
{¶ 11} R.C. Section
{¶ 12} As duly pointed out to me by my colleague Judge Edwards, the requirement for joining all necessary parties is jurisdictional and cannot be waived. Plumbers Steamfitters Local Union 83 v. Union LocalSchool District Board of Education (1999),
{¶ 13} In Cincinnati v. Whitman (1975),
{¶ 14} Based upon the above, Appellant's failure to join the Director of the EPA deprived the court of jurisdiction.
{¶ 15} Neither does Appellant affirmatively demonstrate in the record the Director, as opposed to the STW District, will or intends to enforce the rules as adopted. Therefore, Appellant has not demonstrated an actual controversy exists between the parties. Actions are moot when they involve no actual genuine controversy which can definitely affect the parties' existing legal relationship, Lingo v. Ohio CentralRailroad, Inc., Franklin App. No. 05AP2006,
{¶ 16} Based on the above, the judgment of the Stark County Court of Common Pleas is reversed and the matter remanded to that court for further proceedings according to law.
*Page 8Hoffman, P.J. and Delaney, J. concur, Edwards, J. concurs separately