The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors is seeking to maintain legal protections for its members against Oregon’s Extended Producer Responsibility law while its constitutional challenge proceeds through the federal appeals process.

NAW announced Oct. 17 that it filed a motion asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon to stay its August judgment in NAW v. Feldon while the case is under appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

NAW said the stay would restore the protections its members received under a February preliminary injunction that blocked enforcement of Oregon’s Plastic Pollution and Recycling Modernization Act (RMA) against them.

The request comes ahead of another round of invoices expected in January 2027 from Circular Action Alliance (CAA), Oregon’s designated producer responsibility organization. NAW said those invoices will arrive months before the Ninth Circuit is expected to hear arguments in the appeal.

The association argues that distributors face potential financial harm regardless of how they respond. Companies that pay the fees might be unable to recover that money if the law is subsequently overturned, while those that withhold payment could face compounding late fees and enforcement by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality.

“Our members shouldn’t have to face the threat of enforcement while the Ninth Circuit decides whether this law is constitutional,” NAW President and CEO Eric Hoplin said in a news release. “A stay keeps our members where they’ve been since February and gives the appeals court room to do its job.”

NAW Director of Litigation and Legal Policy Karen Harned emphasized that Oregon’s recycling program continued operating without disruption under the previous injunction. She argued that maintaining those protections during the appeal would prevent potentially irreversible harm to NAW members without materially harming the state.

“NAW has raised serious constitutional questions, and the distribution businesses NAW represents face harm they can’t undo if they’re forced to comply with Oregon’s burdensome EPR law before the Ninth Circuit makes a decision,” Harned said. “Oregon’s program continued to operate without disruption under the previous injunction, showing the state won’t be harmed from a stay. Yet, without a stay, NAW members stand to lose their constitutional rights. This inequity is exactly what a stay pending appeal is intended to address.”

How the Case Reached This Point

NAW originally sued Oregon in July 2025, challenging the RMA’s requirements that covered producers join a producer responsibility organization, report packaging volumes and pay fees supporting the state’s recycling program.

On Feb. 6, U.S. District Judge Michael Simon granted NAW members a preliminary injunction after finding serious constitutional questions involving the dormant Commerce Clause and Due Process Clause.

Following a five-day trial July 13-17, however, Simon ruled Aug. 27 that Oregon’s law violated neither constitutional provision.

NAW appealed that ruling Sept. 24, arguing that the law improperly burdens interstate commerce and delegates significant fee-setting authority to CAA, a private organization.

The Oregon proceedings are part of NAW’s broader challenges to state EPR frameworks.

In California, NAW is the sole business plaintiff in a 17-state coalition that filed an amended complaint and preliminary-injunction motion in August. In Colorado, NAW filed a September reply supporting its request for a preliminary injunction against that state’s EPR law.

Both cases remain ongoing.

MDM Analysis

The immediate watchpoint for distributors is whether Oregon grants NAW’s stay request before CAA’s January 2027 billing cycle. A stay would provide temporary protection for affected members, not resolve the underlying constitutional dispute.

Beyond that decision, distributors should follow the Ninth Circuit’s appellate schedule and developments in Colorado and California. Together, these cases could shape future EPR compliance obligations, particularly for distributors that handle packaging without controlling its design or ultimate disposal.