The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors presented its case challenging the constitutionality and effectiveness of Oregon’s extended producer responsibility law during a July 13-17 federal trial in Portland.

NAW issued a statement following the trial in National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors v. Feldon, a federal lawsuit challenging Oregon’s Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act, also known as the Recycling Modernization Act. The case was heard at the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse in Portland, OR.

The defendant is Leah Feldon, Director of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, which oversees and enforces the state’s EPR program.

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“Last week, NAW’s witnesses took the stand in federal court to describe the unreasonable hardship Oregon’s EPR structure creates for the $8.7 trillion wholesale distribution industry,” NAW Chief Government Affairs Officer Brian Wild said in the association’s statement. “This was the first federal trial to test the constitutionality of a state EPR law.”

The case centers on Oregon’s EPR framework, which requires companies to join state-approved producer responsibility organizations and pay packaging-related fees. NAW has argued that Oregon’s law creates an opaque, privately governed regulatory system that imposes costs and compliance obligations on distributors across interstate supply chains.

In its post-trial statement, NAW said the legal argument focused on whether a private company can be given authority to set mandatory fees on businesses without a public process behind the fee calculation or an independent way to contest it.

“While NAW supports the environmental goals of a circular economy, we do not believe the way Oregon has structured this program is constitutional or has been shown to achieve those goals,” Wild said.

Local media reported that U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon said he expects to rule on the case by the end of August. Oregon Capital Chronicle reported that Simon said Friday afternoon: “I truly have not made up my mind on what to do and how to analyze this problem and what conclusion to reach.”

The trial follows a February ruling in which the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon granted NAW members a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of Oregon’s EPR law while the case proceeded. The injunction prevented the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality from enforcing the Act against NAW members until the court rules on the merits.

At the time, the court agreed with NAW that the law’s regulatory structure raised serious questions under the Due Process and Dormant Commerce Clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

Oregon’s case is being closely watched amid broader legal challenges to state EPR laws. NAW recently joined a multistate lawsuit challenging California’s SB 54 packaging EPR law as the only business plaintiff in that case.

NAW said post-trial briefing is expected to follow in the coming weeks.

Read more about NAW’s positioning on Packaging EPR laws.