Opinion ID: 774302
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Standard of Review and Preemption Standards

Text: 9 We review a district court's grant of summary judgment de novo, using the same standard under Rule 56(c) used by the district court. Williams v. Mehra, 186 F.3d 685, 689 (6th Cir. 1999) (en banc). 10 Under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, state laws that 'interfere with, or are contrary to the laws of congress, made in pursuance of the constitution' are invalid. Wisconsin Pub. Intervenor v. Mortier, 501 U.S. 597, 604 (1991) (quoting Gibbons v. Ogden, 22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) 1, 211 (1824)). Whether federal law preempts state law turns principally on congressional intent. Northwest Cent. Pipeline Corp. v. State Corp. Comm'n of Kan., 489 U.S. 493, 509 (1989). In analyzing preemption, we start with the assumption that the historic police powers of the States were not to be superseded by the Federal Act unless that was the clear and manifest purpose of Congress. Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U.S. 218, 230 (1947). 11 This court will give preemptive effect to federal law under three circumstances. Larkin v. State of Michigan Dep't of Soc. Servs., 89 F.3d 285, 289 (6th Cir. 1996). First, a federal statute may expressly preempt state law. Gustafson v. City of Lake Angelus, 76 F.3d 778, 782-83 (6th Cir. 1996) (citing Pacific Gas & Elec. Co. v. State Energy Res. Conservation & Dev. Comm'n, 461 U.S. 190, 203 (1983)). Second, federal law may impliedly preempt state law. Id. (citing Silkwood v. Kerr-McGee Corp., 464 U.S. 238, 248 (1984)). Implied preemption occurs: 12 if a scheme of federal regulation is so pervasive as to make reasonable the inference that Congress left no room for the States to supplement it, if the Act of Congress touches a field in which the federal interest is so dominant that the federal system will be assumed to preclude enforcement of state laws on the same subject, or if the goals sought to be obtained and the obligations imposed reveal a purpose to preclude state authority. 13 Mortier, 501 U.S. at 605 (quoting Rice, 331 U.S. at 230) (alterations omitted). Third, federal law preempts state law when the two actually conflict. Gustafson, 76 F.3d at 782. State and federal law actually conflict when compliance with both federal and state regulations is a physical impossibility, Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U.S. 132, 142-43 (1963), or when a state law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress. Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U.S. 52, 67 (1941). 14