Page:United States Reports 502 OCT. TERM 1991.pdf/613

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Cite as: 502 U. S. 437 (1992)

455

Opinion of the Court

has applied. Philadelphia v. New Jersey, 437 U. S. 617, 624 (1978).12 The Special Master correctly found that the Act, on its face and in practical effect, discriminates against interstate commerce. See Bacchus Imports, Ltd. v. Dias, supra, at 270. Section 939 of the Act expressly reserves a segment of the Oklahoma coal market for Oklahoma-mined coal, to the exclusion of coal mined in other States. Such a preference for coal from domestic sources cannot be characterized as anything other than protectionist and discriminatory, for the Act purports to exclude coal mined in other States based solely on its origin. See New Energy Co., supra, at 274; Philadelphia v. New Jersey, supra, at 626–627. The stipulated facts confirm that from 1981 to 1986 Wyoming provided virtually 100% of the coal purchased by Oklahoma utilities. In 1987 and 1988, following the effective date of the Act, the utilities purchased Oklahoma coal in amounts ranging from 3.4% to 7.4% of their annual needs, with a necessarily corresponding reduction in purchases of Wyoming coal. As in its jurisdictional arguments, Oklahoma attempts to discount this evidence by emphasizing that the Act sets aside only a “small portion” of the Oklahoma coal market, without placing an “overall burden” on out-of-state coal producers doing business in Oklahoma. The volume of commerce affected measures only the extent of the discrimination; it is of no relevance to the determination whether a State has discriminated against interstate commerce. Bacchus Im12

There are circumstances in which a less strict scrutiny is appropriate under our Commerce Clause decisions. “When. . . a statute has only indirect effects on interstate commerce and regulates evenhandedly, we have examined whether the State’s interest is legitimate and whether the burden on interstate commerce clearly exceeds the local benefits.” Brown-Forman Distillers Corp. v. New York State Liquor Authority, 476 U. S. 573, 579 (1986); see also Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc., 397 U. S. 137, 142 (1970). While we have recognized that there is no “clear line” separating close cases on which scrutiny should apply, Brown-Forman Distillers, supra, at 579, this is not a close case.