Environmental & Energy
Jul. 24, 2026
Emissions or energy use? The 9th Circuit's fine line in Rinnai
Rinnai may have saved zero-NOx rules for now, but the future of gas regulation will turn on how governments frame the fight.
Molly Calhoon Silva
Senior Associate
WilmerHale LLP
Energy, Environment and Natural Resources practice
Less than two years after it struck down the City of Berkeley's ban on natural gas piping in new buildings as preempted by the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA), the 9th Circuit held this month that the EPCA does not preempt a rule enacted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (District) to phase out gas appliances that emit nitrogen oxide gases (NOx). The difference, in the view of the majority, is that regulation of energy consumpt...
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