Would Preemption of the Tobacco Delivery Law Serve the FAAAAs Objectives?
Congress’s purpose in enacting the FAAAA, according to the Attorney General, was to prevent states from imposing economic regulations on carriers, particularly tariffs, price controls, commodity restrictions, and barriers to entry. Brief for Petitioner at 30-34. The Attorney General claims that Maine’s Tobacco Delivery Law is a public health regulation, intended to keep tobacco products away from minors, not an economic regulation. See id. at 22, 24. Therefore, the Attorney General argues that Congress did not intend that the FAAAA would preempt it. See id. at 33-34. The Associations disagree, arguing that Congress’s purpose in enacting the FAAAA was to facilitate a free-flowing national transportation system. See Brief for Respondents at 41-42. According to the Associations, individual state restrictions on the transportation of certain goods, such as Maine’s tobacco delivery law, thwart the Congressional objective by creating a “patchwork” regulatory environment that obstructs commer
