II

104TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 1679

To clarify the application of Federal preemption of State and local laws,

and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 17, 1996

Mr. LEVIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on Governmental Affairs

A BILL

To clarify the application of Federal preemption of State

and local laws, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Preemption Clarifica5 tion and Information Act of 1996’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—

8 (1) the United States Constitution created a

9 strong Federal system, reserving to the States all
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1 powers not expressly delegated to the Federal Gov2 ernment;

3 (2) on numerous occasions, the Congress has

4 enacted statutes that explicitly preempt State and

5 local government powers and describe the scope of

6 the preemption;

7 (3) in addition to statutes that explicitly pre8 empt State and local government powers, many

9 other statutes that lack an explicit statement by

10 Congress of its intent to preempt and a clear de11 scription of the scope of the preemption have been

12 construed by the courts and Federal agencies to pre13 empt State and local government powers; and

14 (4) without an explicit statement of Congress’

15 intent to preempt State and local government pow16 ers and a clear description of the scope of preemp17 tion, preemptive statutes—

18 (A) provide too little guidance and leave

19 too much discretion to Federal agencies which

20 are required to promulgate and enforce regula21 tions pursuant to statutes;

22 (B) create too great an uncertainty for

23 State and local governments; and

24 (C) leave the presence or scope of preemp25 tion to be litigated and determined by the Fed-
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1 eral judiciary, producing results sometimes con2 trary to or beyond the intent of Congress.

3 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

4 The purposes of this Act are to—

5 (1) promote and preserve the integrity and ef6 fectiveness of the Federal system;

7 (2) set forth principles governing the interpre8 tation of congressional intent regarding preemption

9 of State and local government powers by Federal

10 laws and regulations; and

11 (3) establish an information collection system

12 designed to monitor the incidence of Federal statu13 tory and regulatory preemption.

14 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

15 As used in this Act, the term—

16 (1) ‘‘local government’’ means a county, city,

17 town, borough, township, village, school district, spe18 cial district, or other political subdivision of a State;

19 (2) ‘‘State’’ means a State of the United States

20 and an agency or instrumentality of a State, but

21 does not include a local government of a State; and

22 (3) ‘‘State and local government powers’’ means

23 powers reserved under the ninth and tenth amend24 ments of the United States Constitution to States or

25 delegated to local governments by States.
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1 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

2 No statute, or rule promulgated under such statute,

3 shall preempt, in whole or in part, any State or local gov4 ernment law, ordinance, or regulation, unless the statute

5 explicitly states that such preemption is intended or unless

6 there is a direct conflict between such statute and a State

7 or local law, ordinance, or regulation so the two cannot

8 be reconciled or consistently stand together.

9 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT ON STATUTORY PREEMPTION.

10 (a) REPORT.—Within 90 days after each Congress

11 adjourns sine die, the Congressional Research Service

12 shall prepare and make available to the public a report

13 on the extent of Federal statutory preemption of State and

14 local government powers enacted into law during the pre15 ceding Congress or adopted through judicial interpretation

16 of Federal statutes.

17 (b) CONTENTS.—The report shall contain—

18 (1) a cumulative list of the Federal statutes

19 preempting, in whole or in part, State and local gov20 ernment powers;

21 (2) a summary of Federal legislation enacted

22 during the previous Congress preempting, in whole

23 or in part, State and local government powers;

24 (3) an overview of recent court cases addressing

25 Federal preemption issues; and
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1 (4) other information the Director of the Con2 gressional Research Service determines appropriate.

3 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—Copies of the report shall be sent

4 to the President and the chairman of the appropriate com5 mittees in the Senate and House of Representatives.

6 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

7 This Act shall take effect on January 1, 1997. The

8 requirements of section 5 shall apply only to statutes en9 acted or final regulations which become effective on or

10 after January 1, 1997.

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