September 27, 1993
Mr. Robert B. Broughton Attorney at Law
P. O. Drawer 19764 Raleigh, North Carolina 27619-9764
Re: Advisory Opinion; State Board of Refrigeration Examiners; Applicability of Article 5 of Chapter 87 of the General Statutes of North Carolina to the Eastern Bank of Cherokee Indian Reservation
Dear Mr. Broughton:
I reply to your letter of September 22 requesting our opinion whether the State Board of Refrigeration Examiners may enforce the provisions of Article 5, Chapter 87, of the General Statutes to commercial refrigeration work done or to be done on the Cherokee Indian Reservation.
For reasons which follow, and assuming that the person doing the commercial refrigeration work is not a Cherokee Indian residing on the Reservation, it is our opinion that Article 5 of Chapter 87 does apply and may be enforced by the State Board.
The key to this sort of a determination when dealing with work being done on an Indian reservation is whether the federal or tribunal law preempts any North Carolina statutes or regulations. To the best of our knowledge and review, neither federal nor tribunal law preempts the right of the State of North Carolina to require non-Cherokee Indian refrigerator contractors from complying with all of the statutes and regulations dealing with refrigerator contractors, as set forth in Article 5 of Chapter 87 of the North Carolina General Statutes. Although it does not appear that we have issued any written opinions on this particular subject, I have discussed this at some length with Charlie Walker, an attorney on our staff who resides in Asheville and is a member of the Attorney General’s Western Office and who specializes in Indian law. Mr. Walker concurs in this advice.
Should you have any other questions, please feel free to contact us.
Andrew A. Vanore, Jr. Chief Deputy Attorney General