R. Mayer of Atlanta, Inc. v. City of Atlanta

• Decision Date: 23 October 1998
• Docket Number: No. 97-9174,97-9174
• Parties: 12 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 171 R. MAYER OF ATLANTA, INC., Tony N. Upchurch, d.b.a. Chuck's Truck, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF ATLANTA, Georgia, Eldrin Bell, Individually and in his official capacity as Director of Public Safety for the City of Atlanta, et al., Defendants-Appellees.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Eleventh Circuit

Page 538

158 F.3d 538

12 Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 171

R. MAYER OF ATLANTA, INC., Tony N. Upchurch, d.b.a. Chuck's Truck, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. CITY OF ATLANTA, Georgia, Eldrin Bell, Individually and in his official capacity as Director of Public Safety for the City of Atlanta, et al Defendants-Appellees.

No. 97-9174.

United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit.

Oct. 23, 1998.

Thomas E. Maddox, Jr., Tucker, GA, for Plaintiffs-Appellants.

Lisa Steinmetz Morchower, M. Hakim Hilliard, Office of Atlanta City Atty., Law Dept., William J. Monohan, Atlanta, GA, for Defendants-Appellees.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia.

Before EDMONDSON and BIRCH, Circuit Judges, and STAFFORD ^*, Senior District Judge.

BIRCH, Circuit Judge:

In this appeal, we determine, as a matter of first impression, whether the Interstate Commerce Act ("ICA") preempts a municipal ordinance regulating the provision of consensual towing services. On summary judgment, the district court ruled that, because consensual towing services do not fall within the scope of the ICA's preemption provision, the municipal ordinance is valid. For the reasons set forth below, we conclude that the ICA expressly preempts municipal ordinances that regulate consensual towing, and that the ICA does not exempt municipal ordinances that address safety and insurance requirements. We therefore vacate the district court's order and remand for further proceedings.

I. BACKGROUND

Appellants (collectively, the "Towing Companies") are the owners and operators of five towing and recovery companies located outside the municipal boundaries of the City of Atlanta. The Towing Companies provide towing services within the Atlanta municipal limits.

In 1977, the Atlanta City Council adopted several ordinances governing the provision of towing services within city limits. One ordinance in particular makes it unlawful for "any person ... to use or operate upon any of the streets of the city a wrecker ... without having obtained a license granted by the mayor as provided in this section." City of Atlanta Code of Ordinances § 162-223(a). ¹ In order to obtain a license from the mayor, an applicant must provide: (a) his name and address; (b) his place of business; (c) the nature and character of his business; (d) the names of his partners, if any; (e) the names of all officers, if the applicant is a corporation; (f) a list of the charges to be imposed for the towing services to be provided by the applicant; (g) a description of the type and amount of insurance held by the applicant; and (h) such other information as required by the police or the license review board. Id. § 162-223(b). The same ordinance also makes it unlawful for "any person ... to use or to operate upon any of the streets of the city any wrecker without having first filed a registration of all these vehicles with the department of police." Id. § 162-223(c). In order to be registered with the police, an applicant must provide: (a) the make, model and manufacturer's number of the towing vehicle; (b) the date the vehicle was put into use as a wrecker; (c) the driver's license numbers of those who will operate the vehicle; (d) the names of insurance companies providing liability coverage for the vehicle; (e) the permit number of each person who will operate the vehicle; and (f) such other information that may be required by the mayor or the mayor's designee. Id.

Between October 26, 1990, and May 18, 1992, Atlanta law enforcement officers issued citations to the Towing Companies because they operated tow trucks within the city limits without obtaining the permits required by § 126-223(a) and without registering with the police as required by § 126-223(c). R3-54 Exs. C, D, E, & F. All of the citations involved "consensual tows," which occur when the owner of a vehicle expressly requests towing services to be provided by a specific towing company and enters a private contract with the towing company for the services. ² All but one of the citations resulted in convictions, requiring the Towing Companies to pay $276 each in fines.

In March 1992, the Towing Companies initiated this action in federal court, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to bar further enforcement of Atlanta's towing ordinances. The Towing Companies also claimed compensatory damages related to their convictions.

On August 23, 1994, Congress enacted the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994 ("FAAA Act"), which became codified as part of the ICA effective January 1, 1995. P.L. No. 103-305, 108 Stat. 1569, 1607 (1994). Section 601 of the FAAA Act amended the ICA to preempt a wide range of state and local statutes and regulations governing intrastate motor carriage. Section 601 created a "general rule" that:

a State, [or] a political subdivision of a State ... may not enact or enforce a law, regulation, or other provision having the force and effect of law related to a price, route, or service of any motor carrier ... with respect to the transportation of property.

49 U.S.C.A. § 11501(h) (1995). ³ The FAAA Act also created exceptions to the general preemption rule to authorize state regulations that, among other things, regulate safety, impose highway route controls, limit the size and weight of a motor vehicle or the hazardous nature of its cargo, and require mandatory levels of insurance. 49 U.S.C.A. § 11501(h)(2) & (3) (1995). None of the exceptions, however, concerned towing services.

On December 29, 1995, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act ("ICCTA") of 1995, which took effect on January 1, 1996. P.L. No. 104-88, 109 Stat. 803, 804. Section 103 of the ICCTA recodified former § 11501(h) as 49 U.S.C. § 14501(c)(1) without altering the provision's "general rule" preempting the state and local regulation of prices, routes, and services provided by motor carriers that transport property. Id., 109 Stat. at 899. The ICCTA, however, added a new exception to the general rule created by § 14501(c)(1):

[Section 14501(c)(1) ] does not apply to the authority of a State or a political subdivision of a State to enact or enforce a law, regulation, or other provision relating to the price of for-hire motor vehicle transportation by a tow truck, if such transportation is performed without the prior consent or authorization of the owner or operator of the motor vehicle.

49 U.S.C. § 14501(c)(2)(C).

Relying upon these additions to the ICA's preemption provision, the Towing Companies argued that, although municipalities validly may regulate the prices charged for "nonconsensual" towing services, the regulation of consensual towing services is expressly preempted by § 14501(c)(2)(C). The district court rejected this argument, concluding that Atlanta's towing ordinance passes muster under the Supremacy Clause. The Towing Companies appeal this ruling. ⁴

II. DISCUSSION

When reviewing a district court's analysis of a claim that federal law preempts state law, we apply the same legal standards that the district court applied in its order awarding summary judgment. Lewis v. Brunswick Corp., 107 F.3d 1494, 1498 (11th Cir.1997), cert. granted, --- U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 439, 139 L.Ed.2d 337 (1997), cert. dismissed, --- U.S. ----, 118 S.Ct. 1793, 140 L.Ed.2d 933 (1998). We therefore review the district court's decision de novo. Id.

A. PREEMPTION PRINCIPLES

The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution provides that the laws of the United States "shall be the supreme Law of the Land; ... any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding." U.S. Const. art. VI, cl. 2. Thus, state law that conflicts with federal law is "without effect." Cipollone v. Liggett Group, Inc., 505 U.S. 504, 516, 112 S.Ct. 2608, 2617, 120 L.Ed.2d 407 (1992). Although at issue here is the validity of a municipal ordinance, rather than a state statute, "for the purposes of the Supremacy Clause, the constitutionality of local ordinances is analyzed in the same way as that of statewide laws." Wisconsin Pub. Intervenor v. Mortier, 501 U.S. 597, 605, 111 S.Ct. 2476, 2482, 115 L.Ed.2d 532 (1991) (quoting Hillsborough County v. Automated Medical Labs., Inc., 471 U.S. 707, 712-14, 105 S.Ct. 2371, 2375, 85 L.Ed.2d 714 (1985)).

Statutes and regulations established under the historic police powers of the states are not superseded by federal law unless preemption is the clear and manifest purpose of Congress. Lewis, 107 F.3d at 1500. Whether a federal statute preempts state law is "a question of congressional intent." Irving v. Mazda Motor Corp., 136 F.3d 764, 767 (11th Cir.1998) (internal quotation marks omitted).

Federal law preempts state and local laws in three distinct ways: (1) "express preemption," in which Congress defines explicitly the extent to which a federal statute preempts state law; (2) "field preemption," in which state law is preempted because "Congress has regulated a field so pervasively, or federal law touches on a field implicating such a dominant federal interest, that an intent for federal law to occupy the field exclusively may be inferred;" and (3) "conflict preemption," in which state law "is preempted by implication because state and federal law actually conflict, so that it is impossible to comply with both, or state law stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress." Lewis, 107 F.3d at 1500 (internal quotation and citation omitted).

Here, the Towing Companies limit their arguments to express preemption, which is a wise choice. No comprehensive federal regulatory scheme purports to regulate vehicle towing, and Atlanta's towing ordinance does not conflict with, or stand as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of, the full purposes and objectives of Congress. We therefore need consider only whether federal law expressly preempts the City's towing...