August 28, 2026 – NAW strongly disagrees with the district court’s decision in NAW v. Feldon, the first federal case to test the constitutionality of a state Extended Producer Responsibility law. While we are disappointed with the outcome, we were prepared for it. District courts are generally reluctant to overturn laws enacted by state legislatures, and we have always understood that this is part of a bigger fight. NAW is reviewing its options for next steps.
The court’s ruling does not change the facts established at trial or NAW’s position that these laws are unconstitutional. Oregon’s law forces businesses to join a state-approved Producer Responsibility Organization and pay mandatory packaging fees as a condition of doing business in the state. NAW’s Legal Policy Center challenged the law because it gives a private, self-interested organization extraordinary fee-setting authority without meaningful oversight or an effective avenue for businesses to challenge its decisions.
NAW members testified that they received invoices months after the underlying sales occurred, based on rates they could not predict or verify. Oregon’s own regulator confirmed under oath that it had never seen the algorithm used to calculate those fees and could not reconstruct the calculations. In our view, the trial record demonstrated exactly what the Constitution prohibits: a state compelling businesses to pay nearly unchallengeable packaging taxes dictated by a private organization operating without adequate transparency or accountability.
The district court’s ruling is not the final word. NAW remains committed to challenging these unconstitutional laws and protecting businesses from regulatory schemes that impose mandatory costs without adequate accountability or meaningful recourse. As NAW considers its next steps in Oregon, we will continue making that case in our challenges to similar EPR laws in California and Colorado.
Learn more about NAW’s Legal Policy Center.
About the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW):
The National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) is one of America’s leading trade associations, representing the $8.7 trillion wholesale distribution industry. Founded in 1946, NAW includes national, regional, and state employers of all sizes, as well as industry trade associations and stakeholders across every distribution sector. The industry employs over six million workers nationwide and accounts for nearly one-third of U.S. GDP.
Press Contact: Matt Clarke – [email protected].
