Challenge to Berkeley gas regulation dismissed, a win for cities in carbon emissions fight utilitydive.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from utilitydive.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Dive Brief:
A District Court judge dismissed a lawsuit last week challenging the city of Berkeley, California s 2019 ban on natural gas infrastructure in new low-rise residential buildings, a decision that some observers say could inspire more cities to follow with their own restrictions.
In a lawsuit brought by the California Restaurant Association (CRA), U.S. District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers for the Northern District of California stated that the local regulation is not preempted by the federal U.S. Energy Policy & Conservation Act (EPCA). The judge did not rule on whether it is preempted by the California Building Standards Code or the California Energy Code, and said that must be taken up in state court.
In a court ruling Tuesday, a federal judge for the Northern District of California dismissed the California Restaurant Association’s, or CRA, challenge to the city of Berkeley’s natural gas ban.
The court’s decision comes more than a year after the CRA filed a lawsuit against Berkeley in response to a citywide ordinance prohibiting natural gas infrastructure in new buildings effective Jan. 1, 2020. Berkeley City Council passed the ordinance July 23, 2019, making Berkeley the first city in the United States to pass such a law.
“When we look at our greenhouse gas emissions, we know 27% of the emissions come from natural gas in our buildings,” said Councilmember Kate Harrison, the ordinance’s primary author. “That is an enormously important part of our emission and it’s also something we can do something about as a city.”