A Ninth Circuit court on Monday went against a Berkeley ordinance that banned natural gas piping in new buildings inside the city.
A district court had dismissed an action from the California Restaurant Association, a dismissal that is now reversed by the Ninth Circuit court, according to its published opinion on the case (pdf).
The California Restaurant Association alleged that the Energy Policy and Conservation Act preempts the city of Berkeley’s regulation, which banned natural gas piping in new buildings.
“Instead of directly banning those appliances in new buildings, Berkeley took a more circuitous route to the same result and enacted a building code that prohibits natural gas piping into those buildings, rendering the gas appliances useless,” according to Judge Patrick Bumatay.
“States and localities can’t skirt the text of broad preemption provisions by doing indirectly what Congress says they can’t do directly. Berkeley can’t evade preemption by merely moving up one step in the energy chain and banning natural gas piping within those buildings.”
Judge Miller Baker, concurring, wrote that the Berkeley ordinance “cut to the heart of what Congress sought to prevent,” which is state and local manipulation of building codes for the purpose of regulating natural gas consumption.
The third concurring opinion was by Judge Diarmuid O’Scannlain.
According to the three judges, the California Restaurants Association demonstrated that some of its members, which include restaurateurs and chefs, would open or relocate a restaurant in Berkeley if the city’s ban on natural gas piping was not in place. Therefore the Berkeley ordinance harmed at least one of the association’s members.
The restaurant association’s president and CEO Jot Condie applauded the reversal, the Courthouse News Service reported.
“The Ninth Circuit has unanimously affirmed the central issue in this case: local ordinances cannot override federal law,” Condie said.
“Cities and states are not equipped to regulate the energy use or energy efficiency of appliances that businesses and homeowners have chosen; energy policy and conservation is an issue with national scope and national security implications. Natural gas appliances are crucial for restaurants to operate effectively and efficiently, as they allow for a wide variety of cuisines and innovations in the restaurant industry.”
The association’s attorney, Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg partner Sarah O. Jorgensen, said Berkeley “should not be permitted to overrule energy decisions that affect the country as a whole.”
WQOW. Yet more sense from the 9th circus..
Burn Baby Burn ! How did so many mental defectives end up in Berkeley?
There must be something in the California air that causes brain fog (the smog hasn’t been a problem for years). What other explanation could there be to the fact that the majority of citizens vote to enable crazed politicians to try to enact laws and regulations that damage the majority of the population that votes? With climate change morons like Newsom in charge I wonder how the state can still even function.
OR in the water!
The state is not functioning, they have not been able to fix any problems that are occurring there.
Wait until they ban natural human gas – 5 year prison term
How many times must our Lib friends get themselves humiliated in court over some of the stupidity that passes for legislation/regulation from them? Not to mention, this court fight probably cost the taxpayers some bucks in court costs and lawyer fees.