A lawsuit filed in the federal district court for the District of Maryland asserted that the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) preempted Montgomery County’s Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS). The plaintiffs included the manager of a high-rise condominium in Chevy Chase, a residential cooperative housing corporation that owns and operates 1,071 residential apartment units and certain commercial spaces in Bethesda, Maryland Building Industry Association, Inc., National Association of Home Builders of the United States, Restaurant Law Center (“an independent public policy organization supporting the restaurant and food-service industry”), and Washington Gas Light Company (a gas utility). The plaintiffs alleged that the BEPS “fall within the heartland of EPCA’s express preemption provision because they regulate and restrict the energy use and efficiency of” many gas appliances “by restricting the amount of energy used by covered buildings.

Preemption challenge to Montgomery County’s Building Energy Performance Standards.

Elizabeth Condominium Association, Inc. v. Montgomery County

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Plaintiffs Alleged that Federal Law Preempted Maryland County’s Building Energy Performance Standards

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

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Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

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Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Codes and standards are regulatory instruments that specify minimum standards to protect health and safety. This ranges from performance standards, which prescribe outcomes while allowing flexibility to achieve compliance, to the more prescriptive approach of technology-specific standards.

A ban is a legal action that prevents the sale or supply of a product or service, or that recalls a product from the market. Examples are bans on SF6, greenwashing, fossil fuel advertisement or single-use plastics.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Replacing technologies that burn fossil fuels directly with alternatives powered by electricity.

Actions to reduce emissions in energy generation and supply.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

Oil is a combustible liquid fossil fuel composed mainly of hydrocarbons, occurring as crude oil and refined into petroleum products such as petrol, diesel and kerosene.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

The activities of industries that transforms raw materials into finished goods through industrial processes.

The activities of industries involved in the production, distribution, and sale of energy, including electricity, gas, and renewables.

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

This sector involves the wholesale and retail selling of goods.

This sector creates and distributes information and entertainment through television, radio, print, and digital platforms.

Plaintiffs Alleged that Federal Law Preempted Maryland County’s Building Energy Performance Standards

Policy instrument

Risk

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Economic sector

Finance