You are here: / / STATE DESIGN DEFECT AND FAILURE TO WARN ACTION IS PREEMPTED BY THE FEDERAL...
, ,

STATE DESIGN DEFECT AND FAILURE TO WARN ACTION IS PREEMPTED BY THE FEDERAL HAZARDOUS MATERIALS TRANSPORTATION ACT (HMTA), CRITERIA EXPLAINED (FIRST DEPT).

The First Department, reversing Supreme Court, in a full-fledged opinion by Justice Rodriguez, determined the state defective-design and failure-to-warn action stemming from an allegedly defective compressed gas cylinder was preempted by the federal Hazardous Materials Transportation Act (HMTA). …”…  [T]he HMTA’s express preemption provision encompasses state law claims ‘about’ ‘the designing, manufacturing, fabricating, inspecting, marking, maintaining, reconditioning, repairing, or testing [of] a package, container, or packaging component that is represented, marked, certified, or sold as qualified for use in transporting hazardous material in commerce’ … “:

… Federal preemption is based on the US Constitution’s Supremacy Clause …  …

The issue of federal preemption is a question of law …, since it concerns whether, as a matter of statutory interpretation … , Congress has enacted a law for which a particular state rule is “to the Contrary”  … .

An “inquiry into the scope of a statute’s pre-emptive effect is guided by the rule that ‘the purpose of Congress is the ultimate touchstone’ in every pre-emption case” … .. “If a federal law contains an express pre-emption clause,” as here, “it does not immediately end the inquiry because the question of the substance and scope of Congress’ displacement of state law still remains” …

Whether dealing with “express or implied pre-emption, we begin our analysis ‘with the assumption that the historic police powers of the States [are] not to be superseded by the Federal Act unless that was the clear and manifest purpose of Congress'” … . “That assumption applies with particular force when Congress has legislated in a field traditionally occupied by the States” … . “Thus, when the text of a pre-emption clause is susceptible of more than one plausible reading, courts ordinarily ‘accept the reading that disfavors pre-emption'” … .

Notwithstanding the above, “[i]f the statute contains an express pre-emption clause, the task of statutory construction must in the first instance focus on the plain wording of the clause, which necessarily contains the best evidence of Congress’ pre-emptive intent” … .

Accordingly, although courts will not hesitate to hold that state common-law claims are preempted by federal legislation, the analysis in each express preemption case must turn on the precise language of the relevant preemption provision … .

… [T]he defense of preemption may be raised at any time  … .Malerba v New York City Tr. Auth., 2024 NY Slip Op 04344, First Dept 8-29-24

Practice Point: Consult this opinion for the analysis of and criteria for preemption of a state action by a federal statute.

 

You might also like
DEFENDANT CANADIAN INSURANCE COMPANY’S TIES TO NEW YORK WERE NOT SUFFICIENT TO ALLOW THE EXERCISE OF LONG-ARM JURISDICTION OVER THE COMPANY (FIRST DEPT).
A COURT’S LIMIITED REVIEW POWERS RE AN AGENCY’S FINDINGS PURSUANT TO A STATE ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW QUALITY ACT ASSESSMENT CLARIFIED, SUPREME COURT’S REJECTION OF AGENCY FINDINGS REVERSED. 
NEW YORK DOES NOT HAVE GENERAL OR LONG-ARM JURISDICTION OVER A UK CORPORATION WHICH ALLEGEDLY MANUFACTURED A DEFECTIVE PART OF AN EXCAVATOR (FIRST DEPT). ​
FAILURE TO JOIN A NECESSARY PARTY JUSTIFIED DISMISSAL AFTER THE STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS HAS RUN (FIRST DEPT).
ESSENTIAL EVIDENCE SUBMITTED IN REPLY PAPERS PROPERLY CONSIDERED BECAUSE A SURREPLY WAS ALLOWED (FIRST DEPT).
FIVE HOUR BREAK SUFFICIENT TO DISSIPATE EFFECT OF THE MIRANDA VIOLATION.
PLAINTIFF’S COUNSEL SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DISQUALIFIED; HER TESTIMONY ABOUT HER ALLEGED CONDUCT AT THE INDEPENDENT MEDICAL EXAMINATION (IME) WOULD HAVE BEEN CUMULATIVE AND DEFENDANTS COULD NOT SHOW THE IME WAS COMPROMISED IN ANY WAY (FIRST DEPT).
PLAINTIFF ALLEGED THE LANDLORD’S FAILURE TO REPAIR SHOWER-CURTAIN BRACKETS CREATED THE DANGEROUS WATER-ON-THE-FLOOR CONDITION WHICH CAUSED THE SLIP AND FALL; AN OPEN AND OBVIOUS CONDITION CAN STILL BE A DANGEROUS CONDITION; LANDLORD’S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN GRANTED (FIRST DEPT).

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2025 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

HERE THE FORECLOSURE ABUSE PREVENTION ACT (CPLR 213(4)) ESTOPPED PLAINTIFF FROM... ROBERT F KENNEDY, JR’S NOMINATING PETITION DECLARED INVALID (THIRD DE...