ELR Citation: 55 ELR 20099
No(s). 1:23-CV-1267 (GTS/PJE) (N.D.N.Y. Jul 23, 2025) (Suddaby, J.)

A district court denied summary judgment for builder and fossil fuel groups in a challenge to New York statutory amendments prohibiting installation of fossil fuel equipment and systems in certain new buildings. The groups argued the amended statutes were preempted by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) because they amounted to a regulation on the energy use of fossil fuel equipment, including appliances covered by EPCA, and did not qualify for any of the waiver conditions enumerated in the Act. The court found the statutes did not concern the energy use of covered products and were outside the scope of EPCA's preemption. It further held EPCA had nothing to say about what the statutes can regulate, even if those regulations happen to affect the availability to New York consumers of certain covered products.