California v. Perry

Eleven states and New York City filed a complaint in the federal district court for the Northern District of California challenging the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) failure to publish final energy efficiency standards for five categories of appliances and industrial equipment: portable air conditioners, uninterruptible power supplies, air compressors, walk-in coolers and freezers, and commercial packaged boilers. The states and New York City said that DOE’s failure to publish the final standards “directly harms Plaintiffs’ interests by adversely impacting the environment, consumers, economies, public health, natural resources, energy efficiency strategies, and climate change reduction goals of each Plaintiff.” They alleged that the standards could reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than 26 million metric tons and save $24 billion over 30 years. The state-New York City plaintiffs contended that DOE had violated the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) by failing to take required non-discretionary actions related to the standards and by failing to meet deadlines prescribed by EPCA. They also asserted that DOE had violated the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and the Federal Register Act by failing to timely publish the standards.