The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled November 9 that a 2010 Federal Housing Finance Agency directive regarding the financing of local clean energy programs by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is not tantamount to a rulemaking that can be challenged in court. The 2010 FHFA directive advised Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to avoid extending loans with first liens through Property Assessed Clean Energy Programs designed to promote the use of cleaner and more efficient energy. The ruling follows a decision by Second Circuit which similarly dismissed a challenge to the FHFA’s directive.