106
Opinion of the Court
law as long as the state legislature in passing its law had some purpose in mind other than one of frustration. Apart from the fact that it is at odds with the approach taken in nearly all our Supremacy Clause cases, such a doctrine would enable state legislatures to nullify nearly all unwanted federal legislation by simply publishing a legislative committee report articulating some state interest or policy—other than frustration of the federal objective—that would be tangentially furthered by the proposed state law. . . . [A]ny state legislation which frustrates the full effectiveness of federal law is rendered invalid by the Supremacy Clause." Perez v. Campbell, 402 U. S., at 651-652.
See also Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U. S., at 141-142 (focus on "whether the purposes of the two laws are parallel or divergent" tends to "obscure more than aid" in determining whether state law is pre-empted by federal law) (emphasis deleted); Hughes v. Oklahoma, 441 U. S. 322, 336 (1979) ("[W]hen considering the purpose of a challenged statute, this Court is not bound by '[t]he name, description or characterization given it by the legislature or the courts of the State,' but will determine for itself the practical impact of the law") (quoting Lacoste v. Department of Conservation of Louisiana, 263 U. S. 545, 550 (1924)); Na-pier v. Atlantic Coast Line R. Co., 272 U. S. 605, 612 (1926) (pre-emption analysis turns not on whether federal and state laws "are aimed at distinct and different evils" but whether they "operate upon the same object").
Our precedents leave no doubt that a dual impact state regulation cannot avoid OSH Act pre-emption simply because the regulation serves several objectives rather than one. As the Court of Appeals observed, "[i]t would defeat the purpose of section 18 if a state could enact measures stricter than OSHA's and largely accomplished through regulation of worker health and safety simply by asserting a non-occupational purpose for the legislation." 918 F. 2d, at 679.
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