Preemption Alert updated (7/31/06)

Protecting Effective State Environmental and Consumer Protection Laws

What’s New
States play a pivotal role in ensuring the safety of America’s food supply. All 50 states have passed milk safety and restaurant sanitation standards; 16 states have passed shellfish safety standards; 15 states have passed laws allowing them to enact stricter standards for food additives; and many other states have passed laws that require food manufacturers to truthfully label their products or provide warnings about dangerous contents.

Powerful corporate interests are trying to eliminate these state laws. On March 8, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the National Uniformity for Food Act (H.R. 4167). This bill, crafted by large food manufacturers, would nullify at least 200 effective state and local food safety standards, leaving a critical gap in the food safety net that protects public health and consumer choice across the country.

This bill does not establish any food safety and labeling requirements; instead, it simply eliminates food safety and labeling standards that are more protective than federal standards, even when the federal government has done nothing. In effect, the bill asks American consumers to trust that an increasingly unresponsive and under-funded federal bureaucracy will enact adequate food safety and labeling standards that fully inform and protect them.

The Senate is now working on its own version of this legislation.

How You Can Help
Powerful corporate interests are lobbying Congress to nullify state-level food safety laws that protect public health and give consumers the power to make informed choices at the supermarket.

The U.S. House of Representatives already has passed the National Uniformity for Food Act, a bill that would erase 200 proven state and local food safety laws and eliminate states as the first line of defense against threats to our food supply. The Senate is now working on its version of the bill. Please tell your senator to oppose this legislation.

Brief Summary
Over the past decade, states have played a growing role in cleaning up the environment and protecting consumers. In some cases, federal standards are not sufficient to address local problems, such as urban air pollution. Ten states from Washington to Maine have passed more stringent emission standards for cars and SUVs, for example, to improve air quality. In other cases, the federal government has failed to act, so states have stepped up to fill the gaps. More than a dozen states have passed laws to allow consumers to defend themselves from identity theft by freezing their credit reports, for example.

Unfortunately, powerful corporate interests are pressing Congress and the Bush administration to wipe these and other effective state laws off the books and prevent states from doing more in the future. Instead, they would prefer that the federal government alone be allowed to regulate them, passing weaker standards—or better yet, no standards at all. U.S. PIRG is working with state PIRGs across the country to ensure that states can continue to solve local problems and do what it takes to protect the health and well-being of their residents. More.

News Releases
New NRC Report Affirms the Role of the States in Setting Clean Air Standards 3/16/06

House Passes Bill To Nullify Effective State Food Safety Laws 3/9/06

Clean Cars Programs in 10 States Will Cut Global Warming Emissions by More Than the National Emissions of 140 Countries 2/8/06.

Preemption Alert
A newsletter documenting efforts by powerful corporate interests to nullify state and local laws to protect the environment and consumers.

Issue 4, August 2006
Issue 3, April 2006
Issue 2, March 2006
Issue 1, February 2006

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Reports
10-State Clean Car Standards to Cut 64 Million Metric Tons of Global Warming Emissions per Year by 2020, February 2006

Power to Protect: The Critical Role States Play in Cleaning Up Pollution from Mobile Sources, June 2005

Tying the Hands of States: The Impact of Federal Preemption on State Problem-Solvers, July 2004

Articles
“OCC v. Spitzer: An Erroneous Application of Chevron That Should Be Reversed,” Arthur Wilmarth Jr., BNA’s Banking Report, Vol. 86, No. 8, February 20, 2006. Posted with permission from the author. (PDF)

"A Stealth Attack On Strong Public Interest Protections: Powerful special interests are persuading Congress and the White House to impose federal law while wiping out the states' ability to pass stronger standards." Letter to members from U.S. PIRG Executive Director Gene Karpinski, Winter 2004 Issue, U.S. PIRG Citizen Agenda (PDF)

"Preemption Of State Consumer Laws: Federal Interference Is A Market Failure," written by Ed Mierzwinski, U.S. PIRG Consumer Program Director, for the Government, Law and Policy Journal, New York State Bar Association, Spring 2004 (Vol. 6, No. 1, pgs. 6-12). (PDF)

Fact Sheets
Energy Bill Usurps States Rights, April 2005. Analysis of how the House version of the federal energy bill preempted states’ rights. (PDF)

Federal Preemption of Stronger State Consumer and Public Health Protections: Examples of Upcoming Battles, March 2005. Analysis of likely preemption battles in the 109th Congress. (PDF)

Other Resources
PIRG’s OCC Watch page, documenting the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s (OCC) efforts to limit state authority over national banks and their operating subsidiaries.