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Federal Preemption Of State Universal Service Regulations Under The Telecommunications Act Of 1996, Mark P. Trinchero, Holly Rachel Smith

Federal Communications Law Journal

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 …