Michael Gerrard and John Dernbach Honored by ABA
At the American Bar Association’s Section of Energy, Environment, and Resources’ forthcoming Fall Conference in Seattle, LPDD project co-founder Michael Gerrard will be honored in person with the ABA Lifetime Achievement Award in Environmental, Energy, or Resources Law and Policy.
In addition, at a virtual December ceremony, LPDD project co-founder John Dernbach will be honored with the ABA’s Award for Distinguished Achievement in Environmental Law and Policy.
To have both of our project’s co-founders honored by the ABA in such a short period of time is a point of pride and a deserved recognition of two outstanding legal careers. Congratulations to them both!
New External Resources
modelclimatelaws.org is being continually updated with new, external legal resources. Below is a selection of recently added resources, including a large batch of recently signed legislation from California:
- Vermont’s Clean Heat Standard Draft Rules Published: Vermont is one of only two states in the country to legislate a Clean Heat Standard, alongside Colorado. Vermont’s 2023 legislation set up a system designed to fund the transition to “clean heat measures,” such as weatherization, electric cold-climate heat pumps, advanced wood heating systems, the use of some biofuels and other measures. The final bill, however, reduced the plan to a mandate for the state’s Public Utility Commission, requiring them to design a full program over the next two years. The plan would then come back before the full Legislature for another vote, or for potential modification. In October, the Public Utility Commission issued its first draft proposed rules for the Clean Heat Standard. The rules are notable as an early mover in this space, and also because they reflect a conflict at the PUC that may yet be decided in the Legislature. The PUC notes in a companion report that, “it does not make sense for Vermont, as a lone small state, to develop a clean heat credit market and the associated clean heat credit trading system to register, sell, transfer, and trade credit.” As the PUC’s plan will have to be submitted to the Vermont Legislature again for a vote, this cautionary note sends an uncertain message for one of the nation’s first-movers in this space.
- Model Law and Tariff for Distributed Power Plants: “Virtual power plants” (VPPs) are an alternative to traditional grid upgrades, in which a utility aggregates various distributed energy resources (including rooftop solar, backup batteries, electric vehicles, and smart thermostats and appliances) into a dispatchable system that can respond to grid needs. If effectively deployed, virtual power plants can obviate the need for expensive grid upgrades, and make the energy transition much cheaper. To do that, however, state legislatures and utility regulators need to put the policies in place to let VPPs thrive. A group of solar advocates and companies (including Solar United Neighbors, clean energy boutique law firm Keyes & Fox and industry partners including leading solar-battery installers Sunrun and Sunnova) have drafted what those policies should be. Their work has resulted in a recently released model utility tariff as well as model legislation, both of which are included at the link above.
- California’s Gas Transition Pilot Projects Law: California’s SB 1221, signed into law in September, will allow some neighborhoods in need of new gas lines to go all-electric instead — with new electric appliances provided at no cost to residents. The new law will spur up to 30 neighborhood-scale building electrification and decarbonization pilot projects by directing the state’s major investor-owned utilities to identify where it’s cost-effective for utilities to end gas service and transition customers to electric appliances. As long as two-thirds of neighbors agree to the project, the entire community would get free electric appliances to replace those formerly powered by gas. The gas utility would be relieved of providing gas service in this area and would not replace the grid of gas lines underground. These pilots will roll out over four years, beginning in 2026.
- California’s Grid Enhancing Technologies Study Legislation: California’s SB 1006, signed into law in September, requires utilities to study the feasibility of “grid enhancing technologies” and advanced conductors and then file a report with the California Independent System Operator. “Grid Enhancing Technologies” refers to a bundle of technologies that can help increase the capacity of the grid faster and without building new lines. By increasing the capacity of existing lines, the grid can transmit more electricity without the lengthy planning and permitting process required for new transmission build. Where these technologies aren’t being effectively deployed, unnecessary interconnection costs may be passed on to renewable projects trying to connect to the grid. Similar planning requirements have been adopted in other states.
- California’s Complete Streets Law: California’s SB 960, also signed into law in September, requires the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to make improvements for biking, walking, and transit infrastructure when it upgrades state-owned roads. This infrastructure, referred to as “complete streets” assets, would be subject to 4-year targets and performance measures. By 2027, Caltrans is required to develop and adopt a project intake, evaluation, and encroachment permit review process for complete streets facilities that are sponsored by a local jurisdiction or a transit agency.
- Governors’ Climate Ready Workforce Initiative and New Mexico’s Climate Careers Executive Order: In September, the U.S. Climate Alliance, a bipartisan coalition of 24 governors representing approximately 60 percent of the U.S. economy and 55 percent of the U.S. population, launched the Governors’ Climate-Ready Workforce Initiative to grow career pathways in climate and clean energy fields, strengthen workforce diversity, and jointly train 1 million new registered apprentices by 2035 across the Alliance’s states and territories. The Initiative’s goals include boosting job quality, expanding opportunities for workers from underrepresented and underserved communities, and strengthening workers’ economic mobility …. Separately, New Mexico’s EO 2024-152 directs almost a dozen agencies to jointly create an infrastructure and climate-ready workforce development and training plan, including education programs for residents as young as K-12 students on career opportunities, with a goal of having more than 2,000 workers trained in “climate-ready” professions by 2026 …. In furtherance of similar clean energy workforce development efforts, the LPDD project has drafted model state and federal climate workforce study and training legislation.
- EPA’s Emissions Reduction and Reclamation Program: In September, EPA announced a final rule to establish the Emissions Reduction and Reclamation (ER&R) Program, which will help to better manage, recycle, and reuse climate-damaging hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).The ER&R program will help minimize releases of HFCs from equipment by addressing leaks across the lifespan of refrigerant-containing equipment, such as air conditioners and refrigeration systems, while also maximizing the reuse of existing HFCs. The final ER&R program includes requirements for repairing leaking equipment, the installation and use of automatic leak detection systems on large refrigeration systems, using reclaimed HFCs to service certain existing equipment, minimizing HFC releases from fire suppression equipment, fire suppression technician training, and removal of HFCs from disposable cylinders before they are discarded. The regulations also establish a standard that limits the amount of new, or virgin, HFCs that can be contained in reclaimed HFC refrigerants. EPA estimates that in addition to the benefits from prior HFC actions, from 2026 through 2050, this rule will provide additional cumulative greenhouse gas emissions reductions of approximately 120 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, an incremental net benefit of at least $6.9 billion.
- Delaware’s Solar-Ready Schools and State Buildings: Delaware’s HB 402, signed in September, requires new schools and state buildings over 50,000 square feet to meet certain requirements to ensure that the building’s roof is able to support solar energy infrastructure.
- California’s Revised Building Energy Codes: In September, the California Energy Commission approved the latest edition of the state’s building energy codes. The 2025 Building Energy Efficiency Standards encourage installing heat pumps in new homes and certain nonresidential buildings; replacing old HVAC units with high-efficiency systems in existing commercial buildings; and establishing electric-ready requirements for commercial kitchens and some multifamily buildings. Commission staff said the new code will save almost $5 billion in energy costs and cut 4 million metric tons of carbon emissions over three years, much of which would be due to at least 500,000 new heat pumps to heat and cool homes. The code revisions come as jurisdictions in California — and around the country — grapple with the Ninth Circuit’s rejection of Berkeley, California’s gas ban. As jurisdictions consider alternate means of encouraging building electrification that will not fall prey to federal preemption arguments, California’s new building energy code provides one further nudge in that direction.
Spotlight on Equity: Seventy percent of the IRA’s $400 billion in climate investments is in the form of uncapped, direct pay tax credits, which are available through at least 2032. Beyond its scale, direct pay is unique in its availability to tax-exempt and public entities — nonprofits, state and local governments, economic development agencies, and the like — which can receive a cash refund for a portion of the cost of clean energy projects and electric vehicle purchases. These entities are well positioned to partner with low-income communities to ensure they can access the credits’ benefits, instead of being passed over for investment. This September 2024 report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities provides guidance for policymakers on how to create awareness, capacity, and financing opportunities to access the IRA’s tax credits. It suggests helping communities understand the range of investments that can receive support through direct pay and the process for securing clean energy project financing, increasing access to that financing, creating incentives to site clean energy projects in low-income communities, and ensuring that related jobs offer opportunities and living wages for community residents.
Also, in September, Delaware enacted a law to provide financial assistance to Delaware residents for the cost of purchase and installation of electric vehicle supply equipment. For a low-income applicant (meaning up to 300% of the federal poverty level for household income), financial assistance covering up to 90% of the purchase and installation costs may be covered. For all other applicants the program may offer assistance to cover up to 50% of the costs.
LPDD Upcoming Events
On October 29 at 12PM EDT, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network will be hosting John Dernbach and Jordan Gerow from the LPDD project for an hourlong discussion of LPDD resources. In a discussion-heavy format, our team will be introducing the project and orienting users to our website before engaging in an extended discussion of different resources our team has drafted or researched to meet attendees’ interests. We hope to use this format to more deeply explore the nooks and crannies of modelclimatelaws.org and engage attendees in conversation on some of the most pressing legal trends in decarbonization. Register here!
Get Involved!
Not sure how to support our work? Check out our Get Involved page to see the many avenues by which lawyers can join us, and get in contact!
This update highlights and summarizes recent additions to the Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization (LPDD) website, which houses actual and model laws addressing the causes of climate change in the United States.
The Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization Model Law Project (LPDD-MLP) is a pro bono effort to draft model laws for use by legislators at the federal, state and local levels to support their efforts to achieve deep reductions in fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. The project is based on recommendations from the groundbreaking book Legal Pathways to Deep Decarbonization in the United States (Michael Gerrard and John C. Dernbach, eds., 2019). The work is supported by Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law and Widener University Commonwealth Law School’s Environmental Law and Sustainability Center. Dozens of law firms and individual lawyers are contributing to this pro-bono effort as drafters, peer reviewers or in reaching out to policymakers.
Our website, modelclimatelaws.org, contains over 80 model laws that are a starting place for discussion and collaboration among elected officials, non-profit groups, and the private sector for enabling the U.S. to address climate change by reducing U.S. GHG emissions to zero by 2050 or earlier. The site includes several Top 10 lists for some of the key categories, like electric vehicles, PUC’s, buildings and other topics as a short-hand introduction. In addition, the site references hundreds of other actions that states and other governmental bodies have taken to move towards decarbonization more rapidly. By providing policymakers the tools to achieve deep decarbonization, the Project will help achieve a restructuring of the energy economy, thus alleviating the worst effects of climate change, which are disproportionately suffered by marginalized communities, while providing such positive benefits as economic security, social equity, and environmental justice (EJ).
Please contact us to talk about getting involved in drafting and peer reviewing legislation, to provide suggestions and feedback on the drafts and to talk about how we can help you support your climate change efforts.