Rowe v. New Hampshire Motor Transport Ass'n
The New Hampshire Motor Transport Association sued the Attorney General of Maine in federal court, claiming that federal transportation laws preempt several sections of a Maine statute that regulates the delivery and sale of tobacco products to minors. In 1994, Congress passed the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, which broadly preempts state legislation: “[A] State . . . may not enact or enforce a law . . .related to a price, route, or service of any motor carrier . . .with respect to the transportation of property.” The transport association challenged two provisions of the Maine act: the “recipient-verification” provision, which requires a delivery service to verify that person to whom the package is addressed is of legal age to purchase tobacco; and the “deemed to know” provision, which makes delivery services liable for delivering tobacco when either the sender or recipient is unlicensed. The District Court held that the FAAAA preempted both of those provisions and enjoined Maine's Attorney General from enforcing the law.
On appeal, the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed, finding that the FAAAA preempts state police-power enactments to the extent that they are "related to" a carrier's prices, routes, or services. It found that the contested provisions of the Maine statute indirectly regulated carriers by policing the activities of delivery services, and that such regulation by states was prohibited by the FAAAA.
Questions Presented:
1. Whether the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 (“FAAAA”), 49 U.S.C. §14501(c)(1) and 41713(b)(4)(A), preempts states from exercising their historic public health police powers to regulate carriers that deliver contraband such as tobacco and other dangerous substances to children.
2. Whether the FAAAA preempts states from exercising their historic public health police powers to require shippers of contraband such as tobacco and other dangerous substances to utilize a carrier that provides age verification and signature services to ensure that such substances are not delivered to children.
