A federal judge Tuesday denied a request from the natural gas industry to vacate new Washington building code requirements that call for the installation of heat pumps in new residential and commercial buildings.
In a ruling from the bench, Chief Judge Stanley Bastian of the U.S. District Court in Eastern Washington said he did not want to delay an update to statewide building codes and cause a "chilling effect" on other agencies trying to address climate change, according to a news release from Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental law organization and an intervenor, or third party, in the case.
The new building codes were set to take effect in July. In May, the Washington State Building Code Council delayed implementation of code changes until late October. The move followed a federal appeals court ruling that scrapped similar rules in California, and as opponents to Washington's policy filed their own legal challenge.
The request for a preliminary injunction was filed earlier this year by Washington's three gas-only utilities — Northwest Natural Gas, Cascade Natural Gas and Avista — and construction industry representatives. They sought to block the implementation of the new state building code requirements that require the use of electric appliances in lieu of those that rely on fossil fuels. The request argued the rules are preempted by federal law and harm natural gas companies.
The litigation is part of broader backlash against measures proposed or passed around the country to reduce use of fossil fuels in heating buildings. The request from the natural gas industry came after a March lawsuit filed by the Building Industry Association of Washington and 22 other plaintiffs that seeks to overturn the new state building code requirements.
The judge still needs to review the merits of the gas industry's broader litigation. In his ruling, Bastian "really cast some big doubts on this case moving forward," said Jan Hasselman, an attorney for Earthjustice.
"Questioning whether he even has jurisdiction, whether the plaintiffs are suffering any harm," Hasselman continued, "and he really made clear that he wasn't going to get in the way of Washington's important efforts to address the climate crisis."
In a statement, Cascade Natural Gas said the ruling provided clarity that no new rules will go into effect until the end of October.
"Cascade Natural Gas contributes to the process of creating new codes and we look forward to participating in the rest of this legal process," Mark Hanson, a Cascade spokesperson, wrote in an email.
Avista and NW Natural could not be reached for comment.
The building code changes passed last year amid a broader effort in Washington to largely rid the state of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The rules bolster the state's suite of climate policies that seek to force electric utilities to end their reliance on fossil fuels used to generate power and another law that imposes a gradually lowering cap on statewide greenhouse-gas pollution.
Heat pumps operate with electricity and are generally far more efficient than electric baseboard heat or electric furnaces. Code changes approved in April and November of last year put Washington on the front lines of a national movement to drive down emissions from indoor heating sources that use fossil fuels such as natural gas furnaces.
