Federal Preemption
Generally speaking, when there is a conflict between state and federal law, federal law will preempt, or overrule, state law. The power of federal preemption derives its power from Article 6 of the Constitution, commonly referred to as the “Supremacy Clause.”
The Supremacy Clause states that, ”This Constitution… under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and… every State shall be bound thereby, [and] any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”
Preemption is divided into three doctrinally recognized types:
- Express Preemption – when a federal law contains a provision referring to preemption and specifying which state laws or actions the federal statute supplants. For example, the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) explicitly states that it “supersedes any and all State laws….” 29 USC §1144(a). See also, Lorillard Tobacco v. Reilly, 533 US 525 (2001).
- Field Preemption – is a type of implied preemption that refers to areas of law where the scheme of federal regulation is so pervasive as to “occupy the field.” In other words, the federal regulatory scheme is so pervasive as to make reasonable the inference that Congress left no room for the States to supplement it. See, Hines, Secretary of Labor & Industry of Pennsylvania v. Davidowtz, 312 US 51 (1941).
- Conflicts Preemption – State laws will not apply where “compliance with both federal and state regulations is a physical impossibility,” Florida Lime & Avocado Growers Inc. v. Paul, Director, Dept. of Agriculture of California, 373 US 132 (1963). Conflicts preemption also arises where state law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. State Energy Resources of Conservation & Development Commission, 461 US 190 (1983).
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