Department of Labor v. Brugh

¶1 The question of whether federal law preempts state law is governed by the intent of Congress. Congressional intent to preempt state law may be found in three ways. First, Congress may express a clear intent to preempt state law. Second, the scheme of federal regulation may be sufficiently comprehensive to make reasonable the inference that Congress left no room for supplementary state regulation. Third, preemption will be found when there is an actual conflict between federal and state law where (1) compliance with both the federal and state law is physically impossible or (2) the state…