The state preemption pendulum swings again—this time in favor of state preemption of energy efficiency standards in Virginia.
A Democrat-controlled committee in the Virginia State Senate "rejected a bill that would have allowed local governments to adopt stricter energy efficiency codes than the state," reports Sarah Vogelsong for the Virginia Mercury. The reasoning behind the rejection: that new energy efficiency standards would prevent affordable housing development.
"Senate Bill 452 from Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Loudoun would have required the Virginia Board of Housing and Community Development to develop optional energy efficiency standards for buildings based on the latest version of the International Green Construction Code that local governments could then choose to adopt," according to the article.
"Sen. Lynwood Lewis, D-Accomack, joined with Republicans on the Senate Local Government Committee to kill the proposal 8-6. He told the Mercury his vote was due to not only concerns over housing costs but his view that Virginia is already 'on the right track' with building code improvements."
More details on the political debate and the IGCC standards are included in the source article below.
FULL STORY: Affordable housing concerns tank energy efficiency proposal
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