[Congressional Bills 104th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1679 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Preemption Clarification and 
Information Act of 1996''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the United States Constitution created a strong Federal 
        system, reserving to the States all powers not expressly 
        delegated to the Federal Government;
            (2) on numerous occasions, the Congress has enacted 
        statutes that explicitly preempt State and local government 
        powers and describe the scope of the preemption;
            (3) in addition to statutes that explicitly preempt State 
        and local government powers, many other statutes that lack an 
        explicit statement by Congress of its intent to preempt and a 
        clear description of the scope of the preemption have been 
        construed by the courts and Federal agencies to preempt State 
        and local government powers; and
            (4) without an explicit statement of Congress' intent to 
        preempt State and local government powers and a clear 
        description of the scope of preemption, preemptive statutes--
                    (A) provide too little guidance and leave too much 
                discretion to Federal agencies which are required to 
                promulgate and enforce regulations pursuant to 
                statutes;
                    (B) create too great an uncertainty for State and 
                local governments; and
                    (C) leave the presence or scope of preemption to be 
                litigated and determined by the Federal judiciary, 
                producing results sometimes contrary to or beyond the 
                intent of Congress.

SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

    The purposes of this Act are to--
            (1) promote and preserve the integrity and effectiveness of 
        the Federal system;
            (2) set forth principles governing the interpretation of 
        congressional intent regarding preemption of State and local 
        government powers by Federal laws and regulations; and
            (3) establish an information collection system designed to 
        monitor the incidence of Federal statutory and regulatory 
        preemption.

SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

    As used in this Act, the term--
            (1) ``local government'' means a county, city, town, 
        borough, township, village, school district, special district, 
        or other political subdivision of a State;
            (2) ``State'' means a State of the United States and an 
        agency or instrumentality of a State, but does not include a 
        local government of a State; and
            (3) ``State and local government powers'' means powers 
        reserved under the ninth and tenth amendments of the United 
        States Constitution to States or delegated to local governments 
        by States.

SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

    No statute, or rule promulgated under such statute, shall preempt, 
in whole or in part, any State or local government law, ordinance, or 
regulation, unless the statute explicitly states that such preemption 
is intended or unless there is a direct conflict between such statute 
and a State or local law, ordinance, or regulation so the two cannot be 
reconciled or consistently stand together.

SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT ON STATUTORY PREEMPTION.

    (a) Report.--Within 90 days after each Congress adjourns sine die, 
the Congressional Research Service shall prepare and make available to 
the public a report on the extent of Federal statutory preemption of 
State and local government powers enacted into law during the preceding 
Congress or adopted through judicial interpretation of Federal 
statutes.
    (b) Contents.--The report shall contain--
            (1) a cumulative list of the Federal statutes preempting, 
        in whole or in part, State and local government powers;
            (2) a summary of Federal legislation enacted during the 
        previous Congress preempting, in whole or in part, State and 
        local government powers;
            (3) an overview of recent court cases addressing Federal 
        preemption issues; and
            (4) other information the Director of the Congressional 
        Research Service determines appropriate.
    (c) Transmittal.--Copies of the report shall be sent to the 
President and the chairman of the appropriate committees in the Senate 
and House of Representatives.

SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

    This Act shall take effect on January 1, 1997. The requirements of 
section 5 shall apply only to statutes enacted or final regulations 
which become effective on or after January 1, 1997.
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