Building Industry Ass'n v. Washington State Building Code Council

The Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 (“EPCA”), 42 U.S.C. § 6295 et seq., as amended, establishes nationwide energy efficiency standards for certain residential home appliances, and expressly preempts state standards requiring greater efficiency than the federal standards. It nonetheless exempts from preemption state building codes promoting energy efficiency, so long as those codes meet certain statutory conditions. § 6297(f)(3).

This case is a challenge to the State of Washington’s Building Code, see Wash. Admin. Code § 51-11-0100 et seq., brought by the Building Industry Association of Washington (“BIAW’), along with individual builders and contractors. The impetus for this challenge is the State’s 2009 requirement that new building construction meet heightened energy conservation goals. This is the first case at the appellate level to consider EPCA’s preemption-exemption provision. Plaintiffs-Appellants (“Plaintiffs”) argue that the Building Code does not satisfy EPCA’s conditions for exemption. The district court, however, held that Washington had satisfied EPCA’s conditions, and therefore was not preempted. We affirm.

To escape preemption, a state’s…