In the case of C & A Carbone, Inc. v. Town of Clarkstown, New York (1993), the U.S Supreme Court ruled that a local flow control ordinance violated the Commerce Clause of the Constitution by discriminating against interstate commerce. The town had contracted with a private processing facility to handle all its solid waste for five years and enacted an ordinance requiring all locally produced waste be processed at this designated site. C&A Carbone, a recycling company operating within Clarkstown, was fined for shipping waste out-of-state without processing it at this specified location first. The court held that such ordinances cannot discriminate between in-state and out-of-state businesses in regulating municipal trash disposal as it interferes with free trade among states.

In the dissenting opinion for C & A Carbone, Inc. v. Town of Clarkstown, New York (1993), Justice Souter argued that the majority's decision was inconsistent with previous rulings on interstate commerce and misinterpreted the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. He contended that local processing requirements do not discriminate against out-of-state businesses because they apply equally to all waste producers regardless of their location or origin. Furthermore, he suggested that any incidental burden imposed by these regulations is justified by legitimate public interests in managing solid waste and protecting environmental health and safety. In his view, striking down such laws could undermine a wide range of state and local policies designed to promote recycling or reduce landfill use.