Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) General Counsel Joe Mattingly issued the following statement on the dismissal by Judge Robert Bryan of a lawsuit brought by the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW), that challenged the 2009 Washington State Energy Code as being preempted by the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA):

"In dismissing the case, Judge Bryan did not ignore or disrespect the federal preemption provisions of EPCA. Rather, he applied the EPCA criteria for exempting performance-based residential building codes from federal preemption and found that the Washington code satisfies those criteria. In support of its claims in the case, the BIAW cited the preliminary injunction AHRI obtained in October 2008 in its lawsuit challenging the City of Albuquerque's energy code as preempted by EPCA. In his ruling dismissing the BIAW's case, Judge Bryan distinguished the Albuquerque decision from the case before him, stating that: 'there appear to be substantial differences in the Albuquerque code and Washington's code.'"