On June 7, the South Coast Air Quality Management District voted 9-1 to approve a rule that will end the sale of new gas-fired space and water heaters, potentially forcing both the commercial and residential sector to move to electric heating. The ruling applies to Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and most of San Bernardino counties, an area that is home to nearly 17 million people.
The goal is to replace more than 1 million gas-burning heating appliances (which includes about 700,000 pool heaters and 300,000 tankless water heaters) with those that meet a zeroemission nitrogen oxides (NOx) standard when replaced.
The ruling specifically calls out pool and spa gas-fired heaters, as well as certain kinds of natural-gas-fired water-heating equipment in homes and businesses.
The district plans to implement an aggressive timeline to phase out gas-fired heaters, beginning as early as January 2026.
Gas-fired water heaters will be banned from new and existing buildings once the heaters reach 15 years of age, starting in 2028, and should be fully replaced with zero-emission technology by 2058.
For pool and spa heaters, beginning on January 1, 2028, heaters that are 15 years old are subject to zeroemission standards in new buildings. For existing buildings, heaters that are 15 years old are subject to zeroemission standards by January 1, 2031.
There is some flexibility to the ruling. Existing residential homes and small businesses will be allowed to transition to zero-emission replacement heaters at the end of the heater’s useful life, regardless of its age.
In 2022, the South Coast Air Quality Management District drafted an Air Quality Management Plan for improving air quality and meeting federal air pollution standards by 2037.
To meet the 2015 federal air quality standards, about 60 tons per day of nitrogen oxide emissions must be eliminated from the South Coast’s regulation jurisdiction. When the plan is fully implemented in 2058, this regulation will remove 5.6 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides per day, achieving close to 10 percent of that reduction.
Environmentalists applauded the district’s rule.
“This is a major step forward in our region’s fight to clean the air for over 17 million people and invest in zero-emissions solutions,” said Adrian Martinez, attorney at the environmental nonprofit, Earthjustice.
According to Earthjustice: “The South Coast Air Basin, which covers Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, is home to the worst air quality in the country.
In order to bring the region’s dangerously polluted air into compliance with state and federal laws, the air district is tasked with reducing harmful emissions from all major pollution sources.
While less visible than emissionsspewing pollution sources like refineries and trucks, fossil-fuel-powered boilers and water heaters are a significant source of smog-forming nitrogen oxide (NOx) and deadly particulate matter (PM 2.5) in the region.”
The Southern California gas heater regulations come amid several years of nationwide gas wars and litigation; it seems clear there will be opposition and pushback.
In early January 2024, the Federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over the western states, agreed not to allow a ban on natural gas in Berkeley, California, where the city had entirely banned gas piping in new construction a few years prior. That Berkeley ordinance was challenged by the California Restaurant Association, which argued that it violated a 1975 federal law that authorizes federal officials to set energy efficiency standards for appliances such as furnaces and water heaters and does not authorize state or local jurisdictions this power.
“By completely prohibiting the installation of natural gas piping within newly constructed buildings, the City of Berkeley has waded into a domain preempted by Congress. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act expressly preempts state and local regulations concerning the energy use of many natural gas appliances, including those used in household and restaurant kitchens,” the judges wrote.
The California Pool and Spa Association stated that they intend to push back against the regulation using those very grounds.
John Norwood, Director of Government Relations for the CPSA, said “We are looking at the regulation and all the associated documents that the board used to justify it. We our also reaching out to other affected groups to access possible challenges to the rule. Other natural gas ban ordinances enacted by over 70 California cities have been deemed preempted by federal law. Those were energy as opposed to air quality regulations, but the effect is the same in our opinion.”
It will be interesting to see what comes next.
