Decision on the Amount of the Levy for the Export of Filter Ash to an Underground Landfill

Facts

In 2001, the Special Waste Recycling AG (SOVAG) exported a total of 24,407.805 tonnes of filter ash from municipal waste incineration residues to an underground landfill in Germany. The Federal Office for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (BUWAL) levied a charge of 50 Swiss francs per tonne in accordance with Art. 3 para. 2 lit. a of the Ordinance on the Levy for the Remediation of Contaminated Sites (VASA). SOVAG filed an objection and requested that the levy be reduced to 15 Swiss francs per tonne, as this rate is provided for the disposal in a domestic residual waste landfill.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court reached the following conclusion:

1. The levy pursuant to Art. 32e of the Environmental Protection Act (EPA) is to be classified as a cost allocation tax, not as a causal levy. The Federal Council is authorized under Art. 32e para. 2 EPA to set different levy rates for different types of landfills, including a higher rate for export to an underground landfill.

2. However, the average value of 500 Swiss francs per tonne for the disposal costs in the underground landfill indicated by BUWAL is not sufficiently substantiated. The Federal Supreme…