Dormant Commerce Clause

According to the court in ALA v. Pataki, laws that do not discriminate against out-of-state commerce, but impose burdens on that commerce are struck down if:

1) the burdens imposed on interstate commerce clearly exceed any local benefits (the Pike balancing test);

or

2) the law has an impermissible extraterritorial effect because it projects state law into conduct that occurs wholly outside the state;

or

(3) there is a need for uniform federal standards because otherwise there is a danger that conduct could be subjected to inconsistent standards by different states.

According to the court in Washington v. Heckel, only the first standard is utilized and the second and third tests are aspects of the burden imposed on interstate commerce.