GOOD: Ninth Circuit Rules Berkeley Gas Hookup Ban Is Preempted: A local California ordinance prohibiting natural gas hookups in new construction conflicts with federal law according to a federal appellate court. “By its plain text and structure, EPCA’s preemption provision encompasses building codes that regulate natural gas use by covered products. And by preventing such appliances from using natural gas, the new Berkeley building code does exactly that. We thus conclude that EPCA preempts Berkeley’s building code’s effect against covered products and reverse.”