The Long Island serial-killer prosecution is expected to reach a major procedural milestone Wednesday, when the defendant is sentenced in New York state court. Under the reported plea arrangement, a life sentence is anticipated, bringing one of the region’s most closely watched homicide cases to its formal punishment phase.

For criminal practitioners, the sentencing marks more than the end of a headline-grabbing prosecution.

The Second Circuit has handed New York City and New York State a major appellate win, ruling that they may enforce measures that effectively bar fossil-fuel appliances in newly constructed buildings. The decision is important well beyond New York: it sharpens a growing disagreement among federal appeals courts over whether local and state building-electrification laws are preempted by federal energy-efficiency statutes.

At the center of the dispute were challenges by trade groups and unions arguing that the city and state restrictions unlawfully intrude on an area governed by federal law, particularly the Energy Policy and Conservation Act.