TO: Napa County Climate Action Committee
FROM: David Morrison, Special Projects Director
REPORT BY: David Morrison, Special Projects Director
SUBJECT: Status Update on Consideration of the Draft Reach Code
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff requests that the CAC receive a brief summary of the status of member jurisdictions' consideration of the draft reach code and provide any discussion.
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BACKGROUND
At the October 27, 2203, regular meeting, the CAC approved and submitted the Energy Reach Requirement Template Ordinance back to the jurisdictions, with a request for follow-up in 90 days.
For the past several years, a number of jurisdictions in California have adopted reach building codes that prohibited the use of natural gas in new construction, based on concerns for either health and/or greenhouse gas emissions. The CEC currently list 39 jurisdictions with reach codes, the majority of which are located in the Bay Area (https://localenergycodes.com/).
However, a recent court decision has left many of these codes in question. In 2019, the City of Berkeley adopted a new building code prohibiting natural gas in all new construction. That same year, the California Restaurant Association (CRA) filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction from enforcing the new code, on the grounds that the ordinance was invalid and in violation of the Federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) and the California Energy Code. The City, in turn, filed a motion to dismiss. The District Court dismissed the lawsuit in 2021. The CRA filed an appeal of the District Court decision with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. On April 17, 2023, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in California Restaurant Association v. City of Berkeley, that a Berkeley ordinance requiring all-electric new buildings was pre-empted by the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (EPCA) and was therefore invalid. It should be noted that no injunction has ye...
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