The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals snuffed out a California city’s ban on new natural gas hookups on April 17, handing restaurant owners and cooks their first victory over the national climate-action movement.
Judge Patrick Bumatay reversed a district court’s dismissal of a California Restaurant Association’s lawsuit alleging federal law overruled the City of Berkeley’s ban on installing natural gas pipes in newly constructed buildings.
Bumatay found the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act trumps city laws concerning the energy use of many natural gas appliances, including those used in households and restaurants.
“By its plain text and structure, [the federal act’s] preemption provision encompasses building codes that regulate natural gas use by covered products,” Bumatay wrote in his opinion. “And by preventing such appliances from using natural gas, the new building code does exactly that.”…