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A federal appeals court rejected a petition Tuesday to rehear a case associated to a natural gas ban proposed by the City of Berkeley, California, which the panel dominated was unlawful final 12 months.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit finally denied Berkeley’s petition for rehearing en banc — a movement that obtained help from the Biden administration, Democratic-led states and environmentalists — after it failed to obtain majority help from the court’s non-recused energetic judges. Berkeley filed the movement final 12 months after the court in April {that a} Berkeley regulation banning natural gas pipes in new building violated federal statute.
Following the panel’s submitting Tuesday, the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), which had argued Berkeley’s regulation was unlawful, applauded the court for guaranteeing shopper selection.
“Naturally, AHRI and particularly our member companies that manufacture products and equipment that use natural gas, are very pleased that the full court denied Berkeley’s appeal, thereby allowing the residents of Berkeley, and likely elsewhere, to continue to have choices with respect to energy sources for home and water heating,” AHRI President and CEO Stephen Yurek stated in a press release.
“We look forward to continuing to work with states and localities to formulate solutions that help them meet their energy conservation and emission reduction goals without unduly impacting consumer health, safety, comfort, and productivity,” Yurek added.
In July 2019, Berkeley’s city council handed the ban which was set to go into impact in January 2020, making the city the primary within the nation to approve such a measure. Berkeley Councilwoman Kate Harrison, who authored the laws, stated on the time that it was a part of the city’s effort to take “more drastic action” on local weather change and curb greenhouse gas emissions.
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However, months after it was accredited, the California Restaurant Association (CRA) filed a federal lawsuit difficult the city’s skill to move a regulation banning new natural gas hookups. After a decrease court dominated in favor of Berkeley in July 2021, the CRA filed an enchantment, main to the Ninth Circuit ruling in April.
The Ninth Circuit concluded that Berkeley’s regulation violated the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) of 1975, which prevents native laws from impacting the power use of natural gas home equipment.
“Instead of directly banning those appliances in new buildings, Berkeley took a more circuitous route to the same result,” Judge Patrick Bumatay wrote within the opinion of the court. “It enacted a building code that prohibits natural gas piping into those buildings, rendering the gas appliances useless.”
“In sum, Berkeley can’t bypass preemption by banning natural gas piping within buildings rather than banning natural gas products themselves,” he continued within the ruling. “EPCA thus preempts the Ordinance’s effect on covered products.”
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CRA President and CEO Jot Condie stated on the time that Berkeley’s try to ban natural gas hookups was “an overreaching measure beyond the scope of any city.”
After Berkeley then filed its petition for rehearing, the Department of Justice (DOJ) in June filed an amicus transient in help of the city’s gas hookup ban.
“The panel opinion in this case upended those settled expectations. It held that a particular municipal ordinance addressing a health and safety concern identified by local elected leaders is preempted by the Act — even though the ordinance does not regulate the energy efficiency, energy use, or water use of a covered product,” the DOJ acknowledged within the transient.
“The ordinance prohibits the installation of certain energy infrastructure in new construction,” it continued. “It thereby affects, indirectly, the circumstances in which some products may be used in some locations. The panel did not explain why this ordinance’s indirect effects warranted preemption or why other health and safety ordinances would not.”
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The case has drawn the eye of business teams that supported CRA — together with the American Gas Association and AHRI — and environmental teams and different jurisdictions throughout the nation that supported Berkeley’s ordinance, together with the National League of Cities, California, Maryland, New York, Oregon, Washington, D.C., and New York City.
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