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ity of 46 U.S.C. chapter 33 fall within the Þ eld preemption category. Similarly, the Coast Guard has determined that the Þ eld of vessel safety management is preempted. Ac- cordingly, any towing vessel inspection regulations issued under 46 U.S.C. chapter 33 and any towing vessel safety management regulations issued under 46 U.S.C. chapter 32 should preempt state regulations of those Þ elds. A POSITIVE STEP, BUT FULL IMPLEMENTATION WILL PRES-ENT A CHALLENGE TO RULE DRAFTERSThe proposed preemption framework rule is a positive Þ rst step toward compliance with the 2009 presidential memorandum and promises to bring needed clarity and predictability to maritime preemption analysis. The im- portance of the rule lies in the deference federal courts give to an agencyÕs decisions regarding preemption of state laws. Although there is a presumption against preemption when a state exercises its historic police powers, the Supreme Court in the Locke case rejected such a presumption when a state attempts to regulate maritime shipping. It is well es- tablished that Òfederal regulations have no less preemptive ef- fect than federal statutes, and agency regulations may preempt state regulation expressly or by implication.Ó The Supreme Court has held that agency statements on the question of implicit intent to preempt state regulation are disposi- tive unless either the agencyÕs position is inconsistent with clearly expressed congressional intent or subsequent de- velopments reveal a change in that position. Similarly, the Court has recognized that the regulating agency may be Òuniquely qualiÞ edÓ to determine whether the state law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execu- tion of the full purposes and objectives of Congress. By contrast, the Court has held that agency regulations do not preempt state regulatory authority where the regulations did not speciÞ cally express preemptive intent. The Coast Guard is to be congratulated for this im- portant undertaking. Nevertheless, the ÒfederalismÓ state- ments accompanying recently published rules suggest that the goal of greater clarity and predictability will present a challenge to the agencyÕs rulemaking teams, particularly www.marinelink.com MN 27MN FEB14 Layout 18-31.indd 27MN FEB14 Layout 18-31.indd 271/20/2014 10:03:51 AM1/20/2014 10:03:51 AM
