To: Board of Supervisors
From: John Kopchik, Director, Conservation and Development
Report Title: Suspend Enforcement of All-Electric Building Requirement
?Recommendation of the County Administrator ? Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. DIRECT the County Building Official to suspend enforcement of the County's all-electric building requirement (Section 74-4.010 of the County Ordinance Code).
2. DIRECT the Department of Conservation and Development (DCD) to inform the public of the various benefits of constructing all-electric buildings.
3. DIRECT the DCD Director, or designee, to amend the Draft Climate Action Plan to reflect the suspension of the County's all-electric building requirement, and to evaluate alternative methods of meeting the County's Climate Action Plan goals.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None.
BACKGROUND:
Section 74-4.010 of the County Ordinance Code requires that any new residential building, detached accessory dwelling unit, hotel, office, or retail building constructed in the unincorporated area of the County be constructed as an all-electric building, i.e., a building without natural gas plumbing. The County is one of approximately 68 California local agencies that have adopted some form of an all-electric building requirement.
On January 2, 2024, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals invalidated a City of Berkeley ordinance that prohibited natural gas infrastructure in new buildings. (California Rest. Ass'n v. City of Berkeley (9th Cir. 2024) 89 F.4th 1094.) The court held that the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act ("EPCA"), a federal statute that regulates the energy efficiency of several consumer products including water heaters, furnaces, stoves, and HVAC systems, precludes cities and counties from adopting ordinances that prohibit the installation of gas plumbing in buildings.
The County's all-electric building requirement, like the invalidated City of Berkeley ordinance, prohibits the installation of ga...
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