Law Center Search Results

The NAM filed an amicus brief in support of a challenge to a Berkeley, California Ordinance which bans the installation of natural gas lines in new construction. The California Restaurant Association (CRA) filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of California challenging the Ordinance as invalid and unenforceable under the federal Energy and Policy and Conservation Act (The Act) and state law and posing “uniquely negative impacts” on the restaurant community which relies heavily on gas appliances. The NAM filed an amicus brief in support of the CRA’s challenge, arguing that the Ordinance is expressly preempted by the Act and that allowing the Ordinance to survive preemption would create exactly the type of regulatory patchwork Congress intended to avoid, especially given that many cities and municipalities have since followed in Berkeley’s footsteps by adopting similar ordinances of their own. These ordinances have the potential to negatively impact any manufacturer that sells, installs, or uses a gas appliance. Unfortunately, on July 6, 2021, the court dismissed the challenge, ruling that CRA failed to demonstrate that EPCA expressly preempted Berkeley’s ordinance because the ordinance “does not directly regulate either energy use or energy efficiency of covered appliances.” An appeal to the Ninth Circuit followed.