In one of the biggest moves to reduce air pollution in the past decade, Southern California air regulators on Friday adopted a rule that will require pool and hot tub owners to use electricity.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District's board of directors voted 9-1 to phase out certain types of natural gas-fired water heating equipment in homes and businesses in its four-county jurisdiction: Los Angeles, Orange , Riverside and part of San Francisco. Bernardino.
The rule will lead to the replacement over three decades of more than 1 million gas-burning appliances (including approximately 700,000 pool heaters and 300,000 tankless water heaters) with zero-emissions technology. It will also apply to 70,000 commercial water heaters in businesses such as dry cleaners, restaurants, hotels and hospitals.
It does not apply to residential tank water heaters, which have been regulated separately for decades.
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By the time it is fully implemented in 2058, the regulation is expected to prevent the release of 5.6 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides per day. It is the largest reduction in pollution from stationary sources since the air district passed its 2021 rule requiring improved pollution controls at oil refineries. The rule would also reduce planet-warming carbon emissions, equivalent to taking 1.2 million cars off the roads for a year.
“Not only is this a huge step toward improving air quality for our communities, but it will also have enormous public health benefits,” said Vanessa Delgado, president of the South Coast AQMD board of directors.
The regulation is a cornerstone of this year's ambitious air district rulemaking schedule that hopes to bring the smoggiest region in the country closer to meeting federal air quality standards by 2037. The new regulation achieves nearly 10% of the emissions reductions necessary to meet those federal standards. reference point, according to the air district.
Environmental groups, who had demonstrated outside the meeting, praised the decision to approve the rule.
“When it comes to our industrial sector, we don't have to boil the planet to boil water,” said Adrian Martinez, a lawyer for the environmental nonprofit Earthjustice. “With this critical rule, Southern California will replace more than one million gas-powered equipment with zero-emission technology. “This is a big step forward in our region’s fight to clean the air for more than 17 million people and invest in zero-emission solutions.”
The rule aligns with current building standards that prohibit the installation of most gas-powered appliances in new construction buildings. For new buildings, the installation of small gas-fired units will be prohibited starting in 2026. Bans on large gas-fired units and pool heaters will begin in 2027, and bans on high-temperature units will begin in 2029.
Gas water heaters will be banned in existing buildings once the appliances reach a specific age, from 2029 to 2057. For homes and small businesses, there will be some flexibility; Gas water heaters can be replaced at the end of their useful life, regardless of their age.
There is an exemption for infrequently used appliances and possible extensions for special circumstances, such as construction delays or emergencies.
The costs of transitioning to zero-emission equipment, including installation and electricity, will be between $49 million and $79 million a year, according to air district estimates. The changes will result in around 1,000 jobs.
To defray costs, the air district will offer rebates to help homeowners and businesses install zero-emission water heaters. The district says the rebate program will focus on the most contaminated communities.
Business leaders said the rule will affect operations whose livelihoods depend on affordable access to hot water. Electric water heaters and boilers are many times more expensive than natural gas models, according to Jackie Romero, director of government affairs for the California Restaurant Association.
“Our industry was the most restricted during the COVID pandemic and, unfortunately, many operators continue to face those economic difficulties,” Romero said. “Our operators simply cannot afford the cost that would be involved.”
However, environmental advocates stressed that ambitious regulation is needed to encourage the production of zero-emission equipment and drive down prices.
Martínez, the Earthjustice attorney, said innovative policies like these give him optimism that the region will win the long war against pollution.
“I believe we will exceed zero emissions expectations,” Martínez said. “This is a region with a lot of ingenuity. And we will see cleantech companies rise to the challenge of meeting zero emissions standards.”
