NH Motor Transport v. Town of Plaistow ( 1995 )


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  • USCA1 Opinion








    September 27, 1995
    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
    ____________________

    No. 94-2095

    NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION, ET AL.,

    Plaintiffs, Appellants,

    v.

    TOWN OF PLAISTOW,

    Defendant, Appellee.

    ____________________

    ERRATA SHEET

    The opinion of this court, issued on September 20, 1995, is
    amended as follows:

    On page 12, line 8 of first full paragraph, replace "making" with
    "make".











































    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
    FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
    ____________________

    No. 94-2095

    NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION, ET AL.,

    Plaintiffs, Appellants,

    v.

    TOWN OF PLAISTOW,

    Defendant, Appellee.

    ____________________

    APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

    FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

    [Hon. Martin F. Loughlin, Senior U.S. District Judge] __________________________

    ____________________

    Before

    Cyr, Circuit Judge, _____________

    Aldrich, Senior Circuit Judge, ____________________

    and Boudin, Circuit Judge. _____________

    ____________________

    Mark I. Zarrow with whom Lian, Zarrow, Eynon & Shea was on briefs ______________ __________________________
    for appellants.
    Melinda S. Gehris with whom Marjorie E. Lanier and Devine, ___________________ ____________________ _______
    Millimet & Branch, P.A. were on brief for appellee. _______________________


    ____________________

    September 20, 1995
    ____________________


















    BOUDIN, Circuit Judge. This appeal presents a challenge _____________

    to a town zoning ordinance and cease and desist order that

    limit night-time access to and from a local trucking

    terminal. Appellants are the terminal owner, the terminal

    operator, various interstate motor carriers that regularly

    use the terminal, and an association representing New

    Hampshire truckers. Appellee is the Town of Plaistow, New

    Hampshire, ("the town"), which adopted the restrictions at

    issue. The terminal is located on a site partly in Plaistow

    and partly in Newton, New Hampshire.

    The trucking terminal began operation in September 1988.

    It serves as a regional hub for various trucking companies

    serving the New England area. Line haulers from around the

    country drop off freight to be delivered in New England and

    pick up freight whose destination lies outside New England.

    Atlas Motor Express, Inc. ("Atlas"), the operator of the

    terminal, maintains a fleet of trucks and provides short haul

    service within the New England area. The terminal operates

    24 hours a day, loading and unloading trailers.

    Most trucks that use the Plaistow/Newton terminal reach

    it from Interstate 495, a federal highway that runs through

    Massachusetts and near the New Hampshire border. From

    Interstate 495, trucks travel about 5 miles on Route 125 to

    Kingston Road (both are New Hampshire state highways) and

    then about half a mile to Garland Way, the terminal's private



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    access road. Trucks must travel roughly 2000 feet along

    Garland Way, the first portion of which passes through the

    Plaistow residential zone. The terminal's facilities are all

    located in Newton in an industrial zone bordering on

    Plaistow.

    Shortly after the terminal opened, numerous residents

    from Plaistow who live along Kingston Road near Garland Way

    complained about late night truck traffic to and from the

    terminal. The town subsequently served a cease and desist

    order on Atlas and the terminal owner, alleging a violation

    of a Town of Plaistow zoning ordinance that reads in

    pertinent part:

    Any uses that may be obnoxious or injurious by
    reason of the production or emission of odors,
    dust, smoke, refuse matter, fumes, noise, vibration
    or other similar conditions, or that are dangerous
    to the comfort, peace, enjoyment, health or safety
    of the community, whether it contributes to its
    disturbance or annoyances are prohibited in all
    districts.

    The cease and desist order stated that "heavy commercial

    trucking arriving at and leaving [the] site is emitting

    odors, smoke, fumes, noise and vibration around the clock."

    Despite the order, late night traffic to and from the

    terminal continued.

    The town then brought an action in New Hampshire

    Superior Court seeking an injunction against the terminal and

    an order imposing reasonable hours of operation. The state

    court entered a preliminary injunction on February 28, 1989,


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    placing a curfew on night-time access to and from the

    terminal. After an evidentiary hearing, the court entered a

    permanent injunction on July 7, 1989, limiting the terminal's

    night-time traffic as follows:

    6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.: No restrictions.
    9:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m.: Two trucks may arrive or
    depart.
    11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m.: No trucks may arrive or
    depart.
    5:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m.: Three trucks may arrive or
    depart.

    The New Hampshire Supreme Court denied the terminal's request

    for appellate review.

    On March 26, 1993, appellants filed a federal suit

    against the town, alleging that the enforcement of the

    Plaistow zoning ordinance was preempted by various federal

    statutes and by the Commerce Clause. U.S. Const., Art. I,

    8. On October 25, 1993, the district court granted the

    town's motion to dismiss, for failure to state a claim, the

    appellants' claim that the injunction was preempted by the

    Noise Control Act of 1972, 42 U.S.C. 4901 et seq. New _______ ___

    Hampshire Motor Transport Ass'n v. Town of Plaistow, 836 F. _______________________________ ________________

    Supp. 59 (D.N.H. 1993).

    A three-day bench trial followed in August 1994.

    Thereafter, the district court ruled that the injunction

    limiting night-time access to and from the trucking terminal

    was not preempted by two other federal statutes invoked by

    the appellants--the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of



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    1982, 49 U.S.C. 31101 et seq., and the Hazardous Materials _______

    Transportation Uniform Safety Act of 1990, 49 U.S.C. 5101

    et seq.--and did not violate the Commerce Clause. This ________

    appeal followed. We agree with the district court's

    determinations and affirm.

    1. The town urges that the district court judgment be

    upheld, without reaching the merits, on the ground that the

    state court enforcement action is res judicata as to all of ____________

    the appellants. The reach of a prior state court judgment is

    determined by state law. Migra v. Warren City School _____ ____________________

    District Board of Education, 465 U.S. 75 (1984). Under New ___________________________

    Hampshire law, we think that the prior judgment does not

    foreclose the present suit, at least by appellants who were

    not parties to the state court action.

    The only defendants in the state court action were the

    terminal owner and its operator. Non-parties can be bound

    where they are in privity with parties to prior litigation,

    and the privity concept is fairly elastic under New Hampshire

    law, as elsewhere. But normally something more is required

    for privity between the prior and present litigants than

    merely a common interest in the outcome. Daigle v. City of ______ _______

    Portsmouth, 534 A.2d 689, 694 (N.H. 1987). See also Gonzalez __________ ________ ________

    v. Banco Cent. Corp., 27 F.3d 751, 756-63 (1st Cir. 1994) __________________

    (interpreting federal law).





    -5- -5-













    Here, there is no indication that the appellant

    interstate carriers even knew of, let alone controlled, the

    prior litigation. Although the town points out that the same

    law firm represents all of the appellants, the interstate

    carriers are not claimed to have controlled or managed the

    original state court litigation from behind the scenes. Cf. ___

    Montana v. United States, 440 U.S. 147, 154 (1979); General _______ _____________ _______

    Foods v. Massachusetts Dept. of Pub. Health, 648 F.2d 784, _____ ___________________________________

    789 (1st Cir. 1981). It is also plain that the interstate

    carriers who use the terminal on a regular basis have a real

    and distinct interest in nullifying the town's restriction.

    Finally, we note that with the exception of the Commerce

    Clause issue, the federal issues were apparently not

    litigated in the state court. This would not necessarily

    defeat a valid claim of res judicata, see, e.g., Stuhlreyer _____________ ___ ____ __________

    v. Armco, Inc., 12 F.3d 75, 77 (6th Cir. 1993), but it ___________

    encourages us to resolve any doubts in favor of allowing the

    carriers to sue. Since the merits must be reached on the

    appeals by the interstate carriers, we need not consider the

    stronger claim of foreclosure against the owner and operator

    of the terminal.

    2. Turning to the merits, our review of the district

    court's preemption analyses is plenary, Ellenwood v. Exxon _________ _____

    Shipping Co., 984 F.2d 1270, 1273 n.4 (1st Cir.), cert. _____________ _____

    denied, 113 S. Ct. 2987 (1993), and we address in turn each ______



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    of the statutes relied on by appellants as a separate ground

    for preemption. Among these, the most important is the

    Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 ("the Surface

    Act"), as amended by the Tandem Truck Safety Act of 1984

    ("the Tandem Act"), now codified at 49 U.S.C. 31111 et seq. _______

    These statutes together establish uniform, national standards

    for the maximum size and weight of trucks and trailers used

    in interstate commerce.

    As amended, the Surface Act forbids the states from

    enacting or enforcing laws that prohibit trucks and trailers

    of approved length and weight from travelling on the national

    network, i.e., the system of interstate highways and other ____

    federally-funded primary routes designated by the Secretary

    of Transportation. 49 U.S.C. 31111(e); 23 C.F.R. 658.5.

    The Surface Act also prohibits states from denying approved

    trucks and trailers "reasonable access" between the national

    network and "terminals." 49 U.S.C. 31114. This provision,

    which is at the heart of this case, reads as follows:

    31114. Access to the Interstate System

    (a) Prohibition on denying access. A State may not
    enact or enforce a law denying to a commercial
    motor vehicle subject to this subchapter or
    subchapter I of this chapter reasonable access
    between--

    (1) the Dwight D. Eisenhower System of
    Interstate and Defense Highways (except a
    segment exempted under section 31111(f) or
    31113(e) of this title) and other qualifying
    Federal-aid Primary System highways designated



    -7- -7-













    by the Secretary of Transportation [i.e., the ____
    national network]; and

    (2) terminals, facilities for food, fuel,
    repairs, and rest, and points of loading and
    unloading for household good carriers, motor
    carriers of passengers, or any truck tractor-
    semitrailer combination in which the
    semitrailer has a length of not more than 28.5
    feet and that generally operates as part of a
    vehicle combination described in section
    31111(c) of this title.

    (b) Exception.--This section does not prevent a
    State or local government from imposing reasonable
    restrictions, based on safety considerations, on a
    truck tractor-semitrailer combination in which the
    semitrailer has a length of not more than 28.5 feet
    and that generally operates as part of a vehicle
    combination described in section 31111(c) of this
    title.

    The district court ruled that the local curfew did not

    deny reasonable access to trucks wishing to use the Atlas

    terminal. The terminal is located between five and six miles

    from Interstate 495, the nearest juncture with the national

    network. (Route 125 in Plaistow is not a part of the

    national network. See 23 C.F.R. 658, app. A (New ___

    Hampshire.)) Given this distance, and Plaistow's legitimate

    interest in curbing noise, odor and dust in its residential

    areas, the district court found that the night-time

    restrictions were a reasonable compromise.

    On this appeal, the truckers first say that the

    "reasonable access" provision limits state restrictions to

    those based on safety. This is a straightforward issue of

    statutory construction which, absent the "exception" clause



    -8- -8-













    quoted above, would easily be resolved in the town's favor.

    After all, the main provision requires "reasonable access."

    49 U.S.C. 31114(a). "Reasonable" is a comprehensive term,

    United States v. Rodriguez-Morales, 929 F.2d 780, 785 (1st _____________ _________________

    Cir. 1991), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 1030 (1992), and nothing _____________

    in language or common-sense makes reasonableness turn solely

    on safety considerations.

    Context reenforces this view. The "[p]rohibition on

    denying access," 49 U.S.C. 31114, extends far beyond the

    operation of interstate highways or federally funded state

    roads that are designated parts of the national network.

    Local roads and other facilities are also covered by the

    provision to the extent needed to assure reasonable access to

    the national network. 23 C.F.R. 658.19. The guarantee of

    reasonable access thus has a formidable reach, extending to

    local regulatory measures that operate miles away from any

    interstate or national network highway.

    Many of these measures are designed to safeguard

    interests other than safety. Consider, for example, a

    restriction that routed heavy traffic on a detour of a few

    miles to assure quiet in a hospital zone. It is difficult to

    conceive that Congress meant to exclude such a concern from

    the calculus used to determine whether a restriction

    infringes on "reasonable access" to the federal highway





    -9- -9-













    system. In this instance, language and policy are as one in

    opposing such a restrictive reading.

    The sole argument for limiting the restrictions to

    safety matters stems from the exception provision, now

    codified as 49 U.S.C. 31114(b). As a matter of language,

    this provision permits, but does not compel, a negative

    inference that the only restrictions allowed under the main

    provision are safety restrictions. Because subsections (a)

    and (b) do not fit neatly together, it is difficult to be

    absolutely certain of Congress' intent. But for several

    reasons we reject the suggestion that subsection (b) narrows

    by inference the concept of reasonableness in subsection (a).

    First, the negative inference is flawed as a matter of

    language. By its terms the safety exception in subsection

    (b) is concerned not with safety limitations generally but

    with restrictions on truck tractor-semitrailer combinations.

    If the exception were taken to narrow the restrictions

    permitted under the main "reasonable access" provision, then

    arguably the only restrictions allowed would be safety ____

    restrictions directed to truck tractor semitrailer

    combinations, an extremely odd result.

    Second, the original 1982 Surface Act contained the

    reasonable access language with no exception provision; so __

    nothing in 1982 suggested that state access restrictions were





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    limited to those based on safety.1 If Congress in 1984 had

    intended to alter the reasonable access provision so as to

    limit the states to safety restrictions, one might reasonably

    expect some indication of this purpose at least in the

    legislative history. Cf. Sierra Club v. Secretary of Army, ___ ___________ _________________

    820 F.2d 513, 522 (1st Cir. 1987). Congress' failure to

    indicate any such purpose argues against appellants' reading.

    Compare S. Rep. No. 505, 98th Cong., 2d Sess. 1-3 (1984). _______

    The truth is that the legislative history of the

    exception provision is meager. See New York State Motor ___ _____________________

    Truck Ass'n v. City of New York, 654 F. Supp. 1521, 1533 ___________ __________________

    (S.D. N.Y. 1987), aff'd 833 F.2d 430 (2d Cir. 1987) (quoting _____

    two rather uninformative sentences). Among other changes in

    1984, Congress expanded somewhat the protected radius in

    which truck tractor-semi-trailers could operate to include

    their points of loading and unloading. Since this was a

    concern to state officials, S. Rep. No. 505 at 1-3; 654 F.

    Supp. at 1531, Congress evidently balanced this change by

    adding subsection (b) as a counter-weight.

    ____________________

    1Section 412 of the Surface Act, 96 Stat. at 2160,
    provided:

    No State may enact or enforce any law denying
    reasonable access to commercial motor vehicles
    subject to this title between (1) the Interstate
    and Defense Highway System and any other qualifying
    Federal-aid Primary System highways as designated
    by the Secretary, and (2) terminals, facilities for
    food, fuel, repairs, and rest, and points of
    loading and unloading for household goods carriers.

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    We appreciate that, as appellants point out, three

    district courts have made references to the "reasonable

    access" provision as one directed to safety.2 But the state

    restrictions with which those cases were concerned were

    wholly different from and far more intrusive than the

    Plaistow ordinance and order, including blanket limitations

    on the distance vehicles could freely travel off the national

    network and burdensome prior approval provisions for the use

    of local roads. See 681 F. Supp. at 339-40; 654 F. Supp. at ___

    1529-30; 647 F. Supp. at 1484-88. Safety is obviously a

    paramount reason for limiting access; but, in our view, it is

    not the only reason permitted by Congress.

    Having concluded that the district court correctly

    construed the Surface Act, we have no occasion to review the

    court's further, fact-specific decision that the Plaistow

    restrictions in this case did permit reasonable access. The

    appellants scarcely bother to argue the point; in a couple of

    sentences, they simply assert that the district court

    findings show that a truck terminal must operate 24 hours a

    day. The opinion does not make such a finding, and we think

    appellants' cursory argument waives the factual issue in this


    ____________________

    2A.B.F. Freight System, Inc. v. Suthard, 681 F. Supp. ____________________________ _______
    334, 341 (E.D. Va. 1988); New York State Motor Truck, 654 F. ___________________________
    Supp. at 1539; Consolidated Freightways Corp. of Delaware v. ___________________________________________
    Larson, 647 F. Supp. 1479, 1483-84 (M.D. Pa. 1986), rev'd on ______ ________
    other grounds, 827 F.2d 916 (3d Cir. 1987), cert. denied, 484 _____________ ____________
    U.S. 1032 (1988).

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    case. United States v. Zannino, 895 F.2d 1, 17 (1st Cir.), _____________ _______

    cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1082 (1990). ____________

    3. The truckers next contend that the curfew violates

    the Hazardous Materials Transportation Uniform Safety Act of

    1990 ("the Materials Act"), 49 U.S.C. 5101 et seq. The _______

    Materials Act establishes uniform, national rules for the

    transportation of hazardous materials and, together with its

    accompanying regulations, creates an elaborate scheme for the

    designation, handling, packaging, labeling, and shipping of

    hazardous materials. Like the Surface Act, the Materials Act

    contains an express preemption clause, which reads in

    relevant part as follows:

    5125. Preemption

    (a) General.--Except as provided in
    subsections (b), (c), and (e) of this section and
    unless authorized by another law of the United
    States, a requirement of a State, political
    subdivision of a State, or Indian tribe is
    preempted if--

    (1) complying with a requirement of the State,
    political subdivision, or tribe and a
    requirement of this chapter or a regulation
    prescribed under this chapter is not possible;
    or

    (2) the requirement of the State, political
    subdivision, or tribe, as applied or enforced,
    is an obstacle to accomplishing and carrying
    out this chapter or a regulation prescribed
    under this chapter.

    The truckers contend that the curfew is preempted by the

    second provision of the general preemption clause, because it

    interferes with "the federal speedy-transport mandate," N.H. ____


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    Motor Transport Ass'n v. Flynn, 751 F.2d 43, 51 (1st Cir. _____________________ _____

    1984), codified at 49 C.F.R. 177.853(a): " [a]ll shipments

    of hazardous materials shall be transported without

    unnecessary delay, from and including the time of

    commencement of the loading of the cargo until its final

    discharge at destination." Much of the Plaistow freight is

    classified as hazardous. Because the Plaistow curfew

    necessarily entails a delay for hazardous materials, the

    truckers say that it violates the Materials Act.

    By using the word "unnecessary," the regulations

    indicate that some delays are necessary and acceptable. See ___

    National Tank Truck Carriers, Inc. v. City of New York, 677 ___________________________________ _________________

    F.2d 270, 275 (2d Cir. 1982) (construing prior version of

    statute). Once again, appellants make little effort to show

    that on the present record the specific curfew requirements

    imposed by Plaistow create any risk to the drivers of the

    trucks, other highway traffic, Plaistow or any other

    community. The substance of the appellants' brief on appeal

    is that any regime that creates a possibility of a 12-hour

    delay in delivery ipso facto automatically imposes ____________

    "unnecessary" delay.

    A general, state-wide restriction is obviously more

    vulnerable to attack both because its impact is likely to be

    much greater and because it treats alike all situations

    regardless of need or danger. See A.B.F. Freight System, ___ _____________________



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    681 F. Supp. at 345. Quite possibly a local restriction

    might also unjustifiably interfere with hazardous shipment

    movements, either standing alone or in combination with

    restrictions in other communities. But the burden is upon

    those who attack the restriction is show the impact. At

    least on this appeal, appellants have not even attempted a

    serious fact-specific showing.

    This case is quite unlike National Tank Truck Carrier, _____________________________

    Inc. v. Burke, 698 F.2d 559 (1st Cir. 1983), in which we ____ _____

    affirmed a decision striking down Rhode Island's state-wide

    curfew and permitting procedure for transporting certain

    liquid gas on any Rhode Island roadway. By contrast, the

    curfew at issue here involves one terminal, is tailored to

    specific local conditions, and imposes no time restriction on

    the delivery of hazardous materials in New Hampshire so long

    as the Plaistow terminal is not used as a point of

    interchange.

    4. The truckers also challenge the district court's

    dismissal of their claim under the Noise Control Act of 1972

    ("the Noise Act"), 42 U.S.C. 4901 et seq. 863 F. Supp. at _______

    67-68. That statute created a federal regulatory scheme to

    set noise emission levels for motor carriers engaged in

    interstate commerce. Because the curfew was imposed in part

    to eliminate the noise caused by trucks, the truckers say

    that it is preempted by the Noise Act.



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    The federal noise regulations pertaining to motor

    carriers do nothing more than set minimum and maximum decibel

    levels and exhaust system and tire standards for trucking

    equipment that may operate on public roadways. 40 C.F.R.

    202.20-202.23. Accordingly, no state or town may set

    different decibel levels for motor carriers operating within

    its jurisdiction. But neither the Plaistow curfew order nor

    the ordinance it enforces purports to regulate the decibel

    levels, exhaust systems, or tires of individual trucks.

    Rather, noise levels were one element of an equation that

    also included "odors, dust, smoke, refuse matter, fumes . . .

    and vibration" and that prompted a limitation on operating

    hours for one specific site.

    The Noise Act preemption clause underscores the limited

    reach of that statute. It provides in relevant part as

    follows:

    [A]fter the effective date of a regulation under
    this section applicable to noise emissions
    resulting from the operation of any motor carrier
    engaged in interstate commerce, no State or
    political subdivision thereof may adopt or enforce
    any standard applicable to the same operation of
    such motor carrier, unless such standard is
    identical to a standard applicable to noise
    emissions resulting from such operation prescribed
    by any regulation under this section.

    42 U.S.C. 4917(c)(1). Admittedly, the statutory language

    is general ("any standard applicable to the same operation");

    but we think that it would stretch the words beyond their

    ordinary meaning to strike down a local curfew order based on


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    a range of concerns where federal law regulates only the

    decibel levels of the equipment. The Noise Act was not

    designed to remove all state and local control over noise; on

    the contrary, the statute says that "primary responsibility

    for control of noise rests with State and local governments.

    . . ." 42 U.S.C. 4901(a)(3).

    5. Finally, appellants argue that the Plaistow curfew

    is preempted under the Commerce Clause itself even if it does

    not offend any of the individual statutes relied upon by

    appellants. Since Congress has enacted its own legislative

    test for this case ("reasonable access"), one might ask

    whether it is proper for the courts to resort separately to

    the more general Commerce Clause rubrics. Cf. White v. ___ _____

    Massachusetts Council of Construction Employers, Inc., 460 ________________________________________________________

    U.S. 204, 213 (1993). Be that as it may, applying the

    general Commerce Clause tests does not alter the result.

    Absent any statute at all, the courts ask--in a case not

    involving discrimination against interstate commerce--whether

    "the burden [on interstate commerce imposed by the local

    restriction] is clearly excessive in relation to the putative

    local benefits." Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc., 397 U.S. 137, ____ __________________

    142 (1970). The district court found no violation in this

    case. Even if we reviewed this fact-specific legal

    determination de novo, cf. Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of _______ ___ __________ __________________





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    United States, Inc., 466 U.S. 485, 501 & n.17 (1984), our ___________________

    conclusion would be the same.

    Starting with "burden," in this case a night-time curfew

    prevents arrivals and departures at one terminal, at one

    location in the state, during six late-night hours (from 11

    p.m. to 5 a.m.) with lesser restrictions for three hours

    (from 5 a.m. to 6 a.m. and from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m.). For 15

    hours of the day (from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.), there are no __

    limitations. The curfew does disadvantage this terminal vis- ____

    a-vis other terminals not so restricted, and somewhat impairs _____

    its profits; but the magnitude of the disadvantage is not

    easy to isolate.

    The evidence showed that customers often want early

    morning delivery, and in some cases the curfew does limit the

    ability of the Plaistow/Newton terminal to make such

    deliveries. On the other hand, there is no indication that

    customers cannot be served from other terminals or that the

    flow of commerce into and out of New Hampshire is seriously

    affected. No state wide restriction is involved, compare _______

    Kassel v. Consolidated Freightways Corp., 450 U.S. 662 ______ ________________________________

    (1981), nor is a major artery of commerce severely

    constricted, compare Southern Pacific Co. v. Arizona, 325 _______ _____________________ _______

    U.S. 761 (1945).

    On the other side of the scale, the impact on local

    residents is not some remote or conjectural specter. The



    -18- -18-













    curfew order was obtained only because of local experience

    with the terminal; and residents testified at trial about the

    effect on their lives of unrestricted deliveries. The curfew

    is akin to zoning and traffic restrictions traditionally

    applied on a local level, cf. Christensen v. Yolo Cty. Bd. of ___ ___________ ________________

    Supervisors, 995 F.2d 161, 166 (9th Cir. 1993); Interstate ___________ __________

    Towing Ass'n, Inc. v. Cincinnati, 6 F.3d 1154, 1163-65 (6th ___________________ __________

    Cir. 1993), and there is no regulation by federal authorities

    that provides substitute protection.

    In sum, the burden of the curfew on interstate commerce

    has not been shown to be excessive in relation to the

    benefits. Congress has great latitude to order preemption,

    and calibrate it with precision, based on a legislative

    judgment that local regulation threatens interstate commerce.

    The dormant Commerce Clause, by contrast, is a fairly blunt

    instrument; and absent discrimination, courts may reasonably

    insist on a fairly clear showing of undue burden before

    holding unconstitutional a traditional example of local

    regulation. See Raymond Motor Transportation, Inc. v. Rice, ___ ___________________________________ ____

    434 U.S. 429, 443-44 (1978). That showing has not been made

    on the record before us.

    Affirmed. ________









    -19- -19-






Document Info

Docket Number: 94-2095A

Filed Date: 9/27/1995

Precedential Status: Precedential

Modified Date: 9/21/2015

Authorities (20)

United States v. Osvaldo Rodriguez-Morales , 929 F.2d 780 ( 1991 )

New Hampshire Motor Transport Association v. Richard M. ... , 751 F.2d 43 ( 1984 )

Theodore M. Ellenwood v. Exxon Shipping Co., State of Maine,... , 984 F.2d 1270 ( 1993 )

National Tank Truck Carriers, Inc. v. Edward F. Burke, ... , 698 F.2d 559 ( 1983 )

Sierra Club v. Secretary of the Army, Sierra Club v. ... , 820 F.2d 513 ( 1987 )

General Foods Corporation and Rich-Seapak Corporation v. ... , 648 F.2d 784 ( 1981 )

Mark S. Stuhlreyer v. Armco, Inc. , 12 F.3d 75 ( 1993 )

Paul Christensen Candice Christensen Eugene A. Dellavalle v.... , 995 F.2d 161 ( 1993 )

Interstate Towing Association, Inc. v. City of Cincinnati, ... , 6 F.3d 1154 ( 1993 )

Gonzalez Abreau v. Banco Central , 27 F.3d 751 ( 1994 )

consolidated-freightways-corporation-of-delaware-a-delaware-corp-v , 827 F.2d 916 ( 1987 )

new-york-state-motor-truck-association-inc-roadway-express-inc , 833 F.2d 430 ( 1987 )

New York State Motor Truck Ass'n v. City of New York , 654 F. Supp. 1521 ( 1987 )

CONSOL. FREIGHTWAYS CORP. OF DELAWARE v. Larson , 647 F. Supp. 1479 ( 1986 )

Montana v. United States , 99 S. Ct. 970 ( 1979 )

Kassel v. Consolidated Freightways Corp. of Del. , 101 S. Ct. 1309 ( 1981 )

Raymond Motor Transportation, Inc. v. Rice , 98 S. Ct. 787 ( 1978 )

Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc. , 90 S. Ct. 844 ( 1970 )

Migra v. Warren City School District Board of Education , 104 S. Ct. 892 ( 1984 )

Bose Corp. v. Consumers Union of United States, Inc. , 104 S. Ct. 1949 ( 1984 )

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