CCD Editor’s Note: This ruling stands in contrast to a 2023 decision from the Ninth Circuit, which struck down Berkeley, California’s first-in-the-nation gas hookup ban as preempted by the same 1975 federal energy law. With two circuit courts now split on whether federal law blocks local gas restrictions, the door is open for the Supreme Court to resolve the question.
New York could be moving ahead with a first-in-the-nation ban on natural gas hookups in new buildings after a federal appeals court rejected a challenge from industry groups. [some emphasis, links added]
The ruling issued Tuesday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected a lawsuit by natural gas industry groups challenging a provision of New York’s All-Electric Buildings Act, which would ban gas hookups in new buildings under seven stories tall, among other restrictions.
A coalition of construction and trade groups sued to block the 2023 law, saying it conflicts with federal law under the 1975 Energy Policy and Conservation Act and would drive up costs for businesses and energy consumers.
But the appeals court upheld lower court rulings that had determined federal law “does not preempt ” the state’s regulations on natural gas hookups, and on Tuesday dismissed the industry lawsuit.
“The statute does not directly regulate the availability of fossil-fuel-powered appliances, and its express preemption provision does not extend to laws far beyond its defined regulatory reach,” the three-judge panel wrote in the 46-page ruling.
The New York law, which bans natural gas and oil heating in most new construction by 2029, was set to take effect on Jan. 1, but Gov. Kathy Hochul decided to delay the requirements while the legal challenge from industry groups played out in court.
Hochul has pushed for a ban on new and existing gas hookups as part of her environmental agenda, saying the move would improve public health and help reduce the state’s carbon footprint.
Environmental groups want New York to electrify its buildings, saying they account for a large share of the state’s excess greenhouse gas emissions, which drive climate change. They praised the ruling.
“The gas industry tried to take away the ability for local voters to choose to build cleaner, healthier, and more sustainable homes for our kids to grow up in,” Dror Ladin, senior attorney at the environmental advocacy group EarthJustice, said in a statement. “But Congress has never supported such a power grab, and the court saw right through the gas industry’s claims.”
But construction industry groups said in court filings that the restrictions are government overreach that would punish consumers with higher energy costs, but do little to blunt the impacts of climate change.
It would also cost jobs and hurt the state’s economy, they argued.
“The ban presents an existential threat for the small, family-owned businesses in New York that sell, install, and service gas equipment and infrastructure,” the plaintiffs wrote in the legal challenge. “And it threatens the livelihoods of the individuals who work in these fields.”
In Congress, a group of New York Republicans pushed a plan that sought to block New York’s pending natural gas restrictions.
The Energy Choice Act, if approved and signed by President Donald Trump, would prevent states or local governments from banning energy sources like natural gas or propane in new construction.
Read more at The Center Square
