On April 17, 2023, a three judge panel for the Ninth Circuit issued an Opinion in California Restaurant Association v. City of Berkeley finding that the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) preempts a City of Berkeley’s ordinance that prohibits the installation of natural gas plumbing in new construction. This opinion is far reaching in its implication for local government authority to adopt municipal code language and amendments to state building codes in California, particularly where these amendments electrify end-uses that are “covered products” for consumer products and commercial products (e.g., hot water heaters, space heaters, driers, cooking appliances, etc.) regulated by the Department of Energy under the EPCA.
This is the first part of a series of blogs looking at the implications of this decision on local government and state authority to regulate natural gas use in buildings, natural gas infrastructure, and Clean Air Act (CAA) and related state air quality authority to regulate natural gas emissions from buildings.
Continue reading