Opinion ID: 2078729
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 9

Heading: Furnaces

Text: With regard to the furnace violations, we note that the city did not allege any violation relating to the ductwork or other air distribution structural elements of the home. It construed §§ 40-106 and 40-117 of the Code to require the city inspection of the gas furnaces connecting into those systems. Even though the furnaces were already inspected by MUD, the city points out that its furnace inspections have different elements than the MUD inspections. The McNallys argue that there was no competent evidence that the furnaces in the duplex were dangerous. They assert that there can be no violation simply on the basis of an ordinance mandating routine city inspection and permits for gas furnace installation, because any such ordinance is preempted by statutory law giving this power exclusively to MUD. We agree that there was no showing that the furnaces were dangerous and that the application of the municipal ordinance inspection and permit requirements in this case is not authorized by statute. As such, there was insufficient evidence to support a finding that the furnaces were in violation of the Code. First, there was no showing that the gas furnaces were unsafe equipment as alleged in the violations list. Section 48-71(2) of the Code, [u]nsafe equipment, provides that unsafe equipment includes any heating equipment which is in such disrepair or condition that such equipment is a hazard to life, health, property or safety of the public or occupants of the premises or structure. The city inspectors admitted to the Board that since the furnaces had not been inspected, they could not affirmatively say they were dangerous. In contrast, the McNallys presented evidence that the furnaces had passed inspection by MUD. Nor can a violation be premised simply in the McNallys' failure to adhere to §§ 40-106 and 40-117 insofar as the city construes these as requiring separate city inspections and permits of the furnaces. A municipality's police powers can operate only within legislative limits because the power of a municipality to enact and enforce any ordinance must be authorized by state statute. [13] The plain meaning of the applicable statutes grants to MUD exclusive authority over the routine inspection of gas furnaces. It follows that if the Legislature granted this power exclusively to MUD, then the city lacked statutory authority over the same matter. Section 14-815, titled Utilities district; powers and duties exclusive, states: Nothing in sections 14-101 to 14-138, 14-201 to 14-229, 14-360 to 14-376, 14-501 to 14-556, 14-601 to 14-609, 14-702, 14-704, and 14-804 to 14-816 shall be construed so as to interfere with the powers, duties, authority, and privileges that are conferred and imposed upon the metropolitan utilities district as prescribed by law, but all matters relating to the powers, duties, authority, and privileges of such metropolitan utilities district so far as elsewhere conferred, imposed, and defined by law shall be exclusive and paramount. (Emphasis supplied.) Elsewhere, Neb. Rev.Stat. § 14-2124 (Reissue 1997) confers upon the board of directors of a metropolitan utilities district the power to adopt rules and regulations, in the interest of public health and safety and the conservation of gas, relating to the use, installation, and maintenance of piping, equipment, and appliances for gas on the premises of consumers. There is no dispute that pursuant to this section, MUD adopted a rule relating to permits and inspections of gas furnaces, under which the McNallys' furnaces were inspected in this case. Absent anything to the contrary, statutory language is to be given its plain meaning, and a court will not look beyond the statute or interpret it when the meaning of its words are plain, direct, and unambiguous. [14] We cannot escape the plain language used in § 14-815 that the power, duties, authority, and privileges of a metropolitan utilities district shall be exclusive. The term exclusive is defined as excluding or not admitting other things and restricted or limited to the person, group, or area concerned. [15] The term has been described as precluding any idea of coexistence. [16] The use of the term exclusive in § 14-815 plainly means that the city cannot share with MUD the power granted to MUD to inspect and issue permits for gas furnaces. The city argues that Neb.Rev.Stat. § 14-102(33) (Cum.Supp.2006) expresses the Legislature's intent that this inspection and permitting power not be exclusive to MUD. Section 14-102(33) grants the city authority and the power to enact [b]uilding regulations to prevent the dangerous construction and condition of chimneys, fireplaces, hearths, stoves, stovepipes, ovens, boilers, and heating appliances used in or about any building or a manufactory and to cause the same to be removed or placed in safe condition when they are considered dangerous. (Emphasis supplied.) Section 14-102(33) is specifically referenced by § 14-815 as not to interfere with MUD's exclusive powers. Moreover, we find that because § 14-102(33) refers to the more generic term heating appliances, it does not create any ambiguity in the statutory scheme in which § 14-815 gives exclusive powers to MUD over the more specific realm of gas appliances and equipment. Even assuming a gas furnace could otherwise be considered a heating appliance, to the extent that § 14-102(33) grants the city authority over heating appliances, it does so only as to those heating appliances that are not for gas on the premises of consumers. [17] Rules and regulations relating to the use, installation, and maintenance of piping, equipment, and appliances for gas on the premises of consumers are, according to the Legislature, a power exclusive to the metropolitan utilities districts. [18] The city also relies on Neb.Rev.Stat. § 18-2314 (Reissue 1997) and points out that, unlike § 14-102, § 18-2314 is not listed as expressly preempted by § 14-815. This lack of specific mention in § 14-815 notwithstanding, we find nothing in the language of § 18-2314 that changes the unambiguous grant in § 14-815 of exclusive power to MUD. Section 18-2314 deals with the authority of the city to employ inspectors to work for the air conditioning air distribution board. It does not specifically grant the city power to inspect and permit gas furnaces, nor could it. To the extent that any of the other provisions of chapter 18, article 23, of the Nebraska Revised Statutes allow for city furnace inspectors, they do not specify gas furnaces. The provisions of chapter 18, article 23, must likewise be read in conjunction with the plain mandate of § 14-815, making exclusive the power granted to MUD in sections such as § 14-2124.