Maryland Building Industry Association v. McIlwain

The Secretary of the Maryland Department of the Environment filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the Maryland Building Energy Performance Standards as preempted by the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA). The Secretary argued that EPCA’s statutory language did not support preemption. The Secretary also argued that the Ninth Circuit’s decision holding that EPCA preempted the City of Berkeley’s prohibition on natural gas infrastructure in new buildings was wrongly decided and that, in any event, it did not apply to the Maryland standards because the standards were not a building code for new construction and also not a prohibition on the use of gas-powered appliances.