The problem was that the laws referred to commercial documents from standards bodies. Rather than reproducing the entire text of the standard in the law itself (which would be public), the law says "Buildings must comply with XYZ standard 123," where XYZ 123 has to be purchased from the standards body and they claim copyright on it.

This ruling says that providing that XYZ 123 standard online for non-commercial purposes is fair use if that standard is incorporated into the law.