New LPDD Model Laws
Since the last monthly update, the LPDD team has published a new model state law enabling guaranteed conservation performance contracting for public entities. Often, public entities lack the authority to engage in guaranteed conservation performance contracting, a method by which public and private sector entities may finance and install energy efficiency retrofits. Such retrofits can improve the energy-efficiency of existing buildings by approximately 30-50%. Guaranteed conservation performance contracts task energy service companies (ESCOs) with installing retrofits to buildings and contractually guaranteeing certain energy, water, and other environmental savings over time, where the savings often exceed the cost of the upgrades. This proposed model state law authorizes public entities to enter into guaranteed conservation performance contracts, which address a broad range of energy, water, and environmental improvements. The model legislation was prepared based on various existing procurement laws from several states. It will be a good starting point for states that wish to implement new, update, or broaden existing laws.
New External Resources
LPDD.org is being continually updated with new, external legal resources. Below is a selection of recently added resources of special interest:
- Proposed Zero Emissions Homes Act (2021): This Congressional bill, released in July, seeks to provide rebates for the purchase and installation of electric appliances and equipment in single-family homes and multifamily buildings, with additional support for low- and moderate- income households. The Zero-Emission Homes Act defines products and projects associated with household electrification as “qualified electrification projects” or “QEPs.” The legislation then establishes a Zero-Emission Homes Program that provides households with rebates for the purchase and installation of QEPs. The federal zero-emission home program would provide up to $10,000 in immediate price relief for the purchase and installation of select QEPs with additional amounts for low-and-moderate income households and multifamily buildings. The proposed legislation is supported by Rewiring America’s analysis in the recent report, Bringing Infrastructure Home: A 50-State Report on U.S Home Electrification, which we highlighted last month.
- New ASHRAE/IECC Efficiency Standards for Homes and Commercial Buildings: In July, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a pre-publication Federal Register notice determining that the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2019 will increase energy efficiency in residential and commercial buildings, respectively. DOE analysis estimates the updated code will yield 9.4 percent site energy savings for residential buildings, and 4.7 percent site energy savings for commercial (as compared to the previous respective code edition). These revisions would have significant impacts for states and local governments that import these standards into their building codes.
- Maine’s EV Infrastructure Development Legislation: This legislation, signed in July, requires Maine’s transmission and distribution utilities to design and submit an incentive rate schedule to promote EV charging stations by November 1, 2021. These proposals must align with the state’s climate action plan and help achieve the state’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. They also must include an evaluation of the relative direct and indirect costs and benefits associated with each proposed rate, accounting for varying scenarios of EV adoption. Here, Maine offers another example of how to spur the administrative processes required to shift utility EV investments through legislation.
- Maine’s Extended Producer Responsibility for Plastic Packaging: In July, Maine became the first state in the nation to adopt a law requiring companies that create consumer packaging to pay for the costs of recycling. LD 1541 establishes an “extended producer responsibility” program that will charge large packaging producers for collecting and recycling cardboard boxes, plastic containers and other packaging materials, as well as for disposing of nonrecyclable packaging. LPDD has identified extended producer responsibility laws as a key tool to limit material waste, one of our cross-cutting approaches to reducing emissions.
- Maine Adopts California’s Appliance Efficiency Regulations: In July, Maine passed appliance standards legislation that effectively adopts California’s appliance efficiency regulations, as those regulations were in effect on January 1, 2021, for a list of 10 household appliances. The slim piece of legislation highlights how legislatures can readily adopt best practice appliance efficiency standards by unifying their standards with leading states.
- New Jersey’s Municipal Redevelopment Charging Stations Legislation: This July 2021 legislation encourages the inclusion of zero-emission vehicle charging and fueling infrastructure in municipal redevelopment projects. This bill makes the construction of publicly available EV charging stations eligible for 100% funding from a municipality in the state. Proponents of the bill note that municipal redevelopment provides an easy opportunity to invest in charging infrastructure, where planned capital projects can be leveraged to advance EV goals.
- Montgomery County Maryland’s Proposed Building Energy Performance Standard: In July, the Montgomery County (MD) Executive proposed new legislation (Bill 16-21) that will expand the number of buildings covered by the County’s Benchmarking Law and require the use of less energy, effectively enacting a Building Energy Performance Standard. If the bill is approved, Montgomery County would become the first county in the nation to establish a Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) policy that sets a minimum energy performance threshold for existing buildings, joining other early-mover states and cities. The new BEPS legislation would cover commercial and multifamily buildings that are 25,000 gross square feet and greater. The LPDD team is excited to see this new approach to addressing existing building emissions continue to advance at different levels of government.
- New Jersey’s EV Charging Zoning Law: In July, New Jersey enacted legislation that clears qualifying electric vehicle charging infrastructure from having to clear certain hurdles in the zoning process. S3223 provides that electric vehicle charging infrastructure is an inherently beneficial use pursuant to the “Municipal Land Use Law,” may require minor site plan approval from the municipal administrative officer, and is a permitted accessory use and permitted accessory structure in all zoning or use districts of a municipality and would not require use variances. This type of simple shift in zoning procedures can substantially reduce administrative hurdles for the expansion of charging infrastructure.
- Report on Benefits of a National Clean Energy Standard: While federal lawmakers weigh the potential of a national clean energy standard (CES) in Washington DC, last month the Clean Energy Futures group published a study analyzing the energy, economic, environmental, and health outcomes of an illustrative CES design that reaches 80% clean electricity by 2030. The report estimates a present value of the climate benefits through 2050 ($637 billion) that outweigh the estimated costs ($342 billion). This 80×30 CES would also prevent an estimated 317,500 premature deaths between now and 2050 and generate estimated present value health benefits of $1.13 trillion due to cleaner air, bringing the estimated present value net benefits to $1.43 trillion for 2020 to 2050.
- FERC Launches New Transmission Planning Proceeding: In July, FERC launched docket RM21-17-000, a rulemaking on high-voltage transmission planning, and said it is seeking comments about how it could change or enhance existing transmission regulations to support the build-out of carbon-free resources. It is the first major transmission planning proceeding at the agency since 2011. The Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Building for the Future Through Electric Regional Transmission Planning and Cost Allocation and Generator Interconnection, recognizes that the changing resource mix will create new demands for expansion of the transmission system and questions whether the existing approach to transmission planning, cost allocation and interconnection is consistent with the requirements of the Federal Power Act. It seeks comment on a more forward-looking approach on how to build and allocate the cost of transmission infrastructure.
Past Events
On July 22, we were pleased to join the Atlanta Regional Commission in a webinar for local governments looking to cut carbon emissions. Members of our team discussed the LPDD project with an eye towards the many resources that LPDD.org offers for local and regional governments. You can find a recording of the webinar here.
Kerry Addresses ABA on Climate: “You’re All Climate Lawyers Now”
We were pleased to see John Kerry, the United States Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, addressing the ABA recently and speaking to the need for lawyers from all fields of practice to help advance climate solutions. “You are all climate lawyers now, whether you want to be or not,” said Kerry. “We need your skills, your expertise, and hard work to lay the legal pathways and to expedite our progress along that path; to identify existing laws that help implement the needed changes; to amend the laws that are a hindrance; and to draft the new laws that will turn novel ideas into implementable innovations.”
Needless to say, Kerry’s remarks underscore LPDD’s raison d’être, and we hope his timely speech helps drive lawyers towards our project and similar efforts. A video of Kerry’s remarks is available here. A transcript of his remarks is available here.
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