Judge Backs L.A. District, Rejects Industry Claims Boiler Rule Violates EPCA

A federal judge is siding with Los Angeles air district regulators and rejecting a gas industry lawsuit that claims the district’s rule requiring commercial buildings to transition to zero-emission industrial water heaters is preempted by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), maintaining that a prior court decision does not support the claim. In that precedential case -- California Restaurant Association (CRA) v. City of Berkeley -- a federal district court found that EPCA preempted the city’s ban on...