Federal preemption of state universal service regulations under the Telecommunications Act of 1996

With the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress revamped federal universal service policy by requiring that universal service support be explicit. The Act also provides that states can supplement federal universal service support with state universal service support. However, under...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inFederal communications law journal Vol. 51; no. 2; p. 303
Main Authors Trinchero, Mark P, Smith, Holly Rachel
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington George Washington University, National Law Center 01.03.1999
Subjects
Business services
Competition
Federal regulation
Language
Preemption
Regulatory agencies
Rural areas
State laws
State regulation
Studies
Subsidies
Telecommunications Act 1996-US
Telecommunications industry
Universal service
United States > US
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Summary:With the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, Congress revamped federal universal service policy by requiring that universal service support be explicit. The Act also provides that states can supplement federal universal service support with state universal service support. However, under section 254(f) of the Act, state programs must not be inconsistent with the FCC's rules for implementing the Federal Plan. Section 254(f) provides for express preemption of state universal service plans but uses FCC rules as a measure for determining when preemption is required. As a result, the case law governing express preemption by Congress is in and of itself an insufficient guide for determining the scope of the section 254(f) preemption power. To interpret section 254(f), case law governing preemption of state law by the FCC must also be incorporated. Thus, a three-pronged test is required to determine whether a state universal service plan is preempted by section 254(f).
ISSN:0163-7606
2376-4457