Appeal seeks to overturn Oregon's EPR law.
In a recent column in RealClearMarkets, Americans for Tax Reform’s VP of State Affairs described Extended Produced Responsibility (EPR), a new regulatory regime thus far enacted in eight blue states, explaining how it is “a regressive, hidden tax that Americans will soon know well.”
“EPR, like cap-and-trade programs and carbon taxes, raises consumer costs by design,” that RealClear article explained. “While cap-and-trade programs force companies to pay fees based on their level of carbon emissions, EPR laws create a new bureaucracy tasked with assessing variable fees on most products sold in the state, with the fee level based on the type of packaging. Whereas cap-and-trade drives up utility bills and gas prices, EPR raises the cost of most consumer goods, acting as a regressive tax hike that disproportionately harms low- and middle-income households.”
Though only eight states have enacted EPR laws, among them is the nation’s most populous state, California, where EPR fee collection begins in January. Maine, Colorado, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, and Washington are the other states with an EPR law on the books. EPR proponents recently scored a victory in court, with a federal district court judge upholding Oregon’s EPR law in an August 27 ruling on NAW v. Feldon, a lawsuit brought by the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors seeking other overturn Oregon’s EPR law on multiple grounds.
Most recently, on September 24, NAW filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, that challenges the August 17 district court ruling. The NAW press release announcing its appeal noted that the July 2026 trial in Oregon “was the first federal trial in the country to test an EPR law’s constitutionality,” that the association “is also the sole business plaintiff in a 17-state coalition challenging California’s EPR law, and has filed a separate challenge to Colorado’s EPR law.”
“Though EPR bills have thus far only gained traction in blue states, that doesn’t mean EPR advocates are limiting their efforts to Democratic-run legislatures,” added the aforementioned RealClear column, which was published back in July. “In fact, a Republican lawmaker filed an EPR bill in Tennessee last year, and EPR legislation has been filed in other GOP-led states, including North Carolina, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Missouri. That’s why, though most Americans have yet to hear of EPR, many people are going to become familiar with it in the coming months and years.”
ATR will continue to monitor these ongoing cases, as well as legislative developments related to EPR.