Pollution Control Financing Authority v. Department of Environmental Protection

The opinion of the court was delivered by

BAIME, J.A.D.

This appeal presents a question of first impression. N.J.S.A. 13:1E-138 imposes three new taxes on the disposal of solid waste at sanitary landfills. Exempt from taxation are the “waste products resulting from the operation of a resource recovery facility.” N.J.S.A. 13:1E-138 a, b and c. Although there are various types of resource recovery facilities, see N.J.S.A. 13:1E-I37v, we are concerned here with an incinerator that reduces solid waste to ash residue by combustion, thereby producing energy. At issue is whether solid waste materials,…