Air board rejects smog rules phasing out gas-powered heaters in LA basin
Opponents say the rules would have limited consumers’ choices and driven up costs, while supporters say they are critical for healthy air.
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After a contentious, five-hour hearing, Southern California air quality regulators rejected measures that would have phased out residential gas-powered water heaters and furnaces in the Los Angeles basin.
The two rules, designed to clean up one of the biggest sources of the region’s severe smog, would have set increasing targets for sales of zero-emission products in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties over the next decade — beginning with 30% in 2027. The targets would not have been mandatory, although manufacturers would pay fees for each natural gas water heater or furnace they sell.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District board in a 7-5 vote rejected its boldest smog-fighting proposal in years. The decision, driven mostly by concerns about affordability, was a rare rebuke of measures proposed by the agency’s staff, which came after years of compromise and efforts to scale back what originally was a mandate phasing out the polluting heaters.
The board voted 7-4 to send the two proposed rules back to a committee, which means any new version likely won’t be considered until next year.
An overflow crowd of several hundred people attended today’s hearing, with more than 200 people testifying. In addition, the agency received more than 30,000 written comments, fueled by an aggressive push of opposition from the gas and building industries.
“Despite not being called a mandate, the rules would force on consumers electric units that are more expensive upfront to purchase, may require costly panel upgrades and are more costly to operate with rate increases being sought by providers,” Chino Mayor Pro Tem Chris Burton told the board, adding that the electric heat pumps also would increase demand on an already stressed grid.
The Trump administration’s Justice Department warned the air district in a letter Thursday that it would sue to block the rules.
“California regulators are on notice: if you pass illegal bans or penalties on gas appliances, we’ll see you in court. The law is clear—feds set energy policy, not unelected climate bureaucrats,” U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli. a former California state Assemblymember, said on X.
Chis Chavez, deputy policy director with the environmental group Coalition for Clean Air, gave impassioned comments to the board after the vote.
“Simply put, you have failed,” Chavez said, raising his voice to the board members. “For this failure you are now inviting federal sanctions, limits on industry, limits on economic activity, and those are consequences you will have brought on yourself.”
Opponents criticized the measures as governmental overreach that will limit consumers’ choices and drive up costs for residents, businesses and landlords.
The South Coast district’s 12-member governing board — made up largely of city and county elected officials — was heavily divided.
“What struck me today is a singular focus on housing costs and overall costs and the reality is in the state of California, health care costs are increasing at a greater rate than housing increases,” said board member Holly Mitchell, a Los Angeles County supervisor. “We do have to make tough decisions on behalf of the greater good every day. We have a responsibility…to get us on a path to cleaner air.”
Orange County, Inland Empire officials voted no
All six representatives from Orange County and the Inland Empire voted against the measures, along with the board member representing western Los Angeles County cities. Members representing the state Senate, Assembly, city of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County eastern cities and Los Angeles County Supervisors voted in favor.
“I think this mandate hits really hard for disadvantaged and fixed income residents,” said board member Janet Nguyen, an Orange County supervisor, saying it could cost residents tens of thousands of dollars to buy the electric heaters and rewire their homes. “I think we also need to be diligent given the (Justice Department’s) formal warning.”
The measures wouldn’t have required people to get rid of old heaters and would not have banned new natural gas ones. Instead, they were designed to allow consumers to choose between electric heat pumps or natural gas appliances while penalizing manufacturers for selling ones that pollute the air.
Fernando Gaytan, an attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice, urged the board to approve the measures despite what he called the U.S. attorney general’s “grandstanding” in his letter to the board.