Exemption Federalism: Regulatory Carve-outs and the Protection of Local Farms

Abstract

When national regulatory programs exempt small-scale operators or producers from certain requirements, the result looks surprisingly like federalism. That is, many local (or intrastate) operators end up subject only to state or local regulations; most national (or interstate) operators end up subject to federal regulation. While small-scale businesses may rely on these exemptions in practice, the exemptions are understudied and undertheorized in the legal scholarship.