Federal regulations always supersede state regulations.

• A. True
• B. False
• C. Sometimes
• D. Not applicable

Answer: (B)

Preemption governs how federal and state rules interact, and federal rules do not automatically override all state rules. The Supremacy Clause makes federal law the supreme law, but that supremacy applies only when Congress acts within its constitutional authority and intends to preempt. There are several ways preemption can occur: explicitly in the statute, implicitly when a federal rule fully occupies a regulatory field, or when a state rule would conflict with federal law and cannot be reconciled. In many situations, states may regulate in parallel or impose stricter standards as long as they don’t conflict with federal requirements, and in some areas federal regulation may be silent, leaving room for state rules. So the statement isn’t universally true; federal regulations can preempt state laws, but not always, depending on the specific statute and context.