98
Opinion of O'Connor, J.
Pre-emption may be either expressed or implied, and "is compelled whether Congress' command is explicitly stated in the statute's language or implicitly contained in its structure and purpose." Jones v. Rath Packing Co., 430 U. S. 519, 525 (1977); Shaw v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 463 U. S. 85, 95 (1983); Fidelity Fed. Sav. & Loan Assn. v. De la Cuesta, 458 U. S. 141, 152-153 (1982). Absent explicit pre-emptive language, we have recognized at least two types of implied preemption: field pre-emption, where the scheme of federal regulation is " 'so pervasive as to make reasonable the inference that Congress left no room for the States to supplement it,' " id., at 153 (quoting Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp., 331 U. S. 218, 230 (1947)), and conflict pre-emption, where "compliance with both federal and state regulations is a physical impossibility," Florida Lime & Avocado Growers, Inc. v. Paul, 373 U. S. 132, 142-143 (1963), or where state law "stands as an obstacle to the accomplishment and execution of the full purposes and objectives of Congress," Hines v. Davidowitz, 312 U. S. 52, 67 (1941); Felder v. Casey, 487 U. S. 131, 138 (1988); Perez v. Campbell, 402 U. S. 637, 649 (1971).
Our ultimate task in any pre-emption case is to determine whether state regulation is consistent with the structure and purpose of the statute as a whole. Looking to "the provisions of the whole law, and to its object and policy," Pilot Life Ins. Co. v. Dedeaux, 481 U. S. 41, 51 (1987) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted), we hold that nonap-proved state regulation of occupational safety and health is-Mfrs. Assn. v. City of Akron, 801 F. 2d 824, 828 (CA6 1986), appeal dism'd, 484 U. S. 801 (1987); Five Migrant Farmworkers v. Hoffman, 136 N. J. Super. 242, 247-248, 345 A. 2d 378, 381 (1975); Columbus Coated Fabrics v. Industrial Comm'n of Ohio, 1 OSHC 1361, 1362 (SD Ohio 1973); cf. Florida Citrus Packers v. California, 545 F. Supp. 216, 219-220 (ND Cal. 1982) (State may enforce modification to an approved plan pending approval by Secretary). See also S. Bokat & H. Thompson, Occupational Safety and Health Law 686, n. 28 (1988) ("Section 18(b) of the Act permits states to adopt more effective standards only through the vehicle of an approved state plan").
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