Southern California air regulators can move forward with new limits on the sale of certain gas-powered appliances, including water heaters.
Despite pushback from businesses and developers, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in a 2-1 ruling last week upheld restrictions on commercial and industrial gas appliances in four Los Angeles-area counties.
The ruling directly affects roughly 1.3 million water heaters and industrial boilers in L.A., Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, according to the Sierra Club, a defendant in the lawsuit. South Coast Air Quality Management District adopted the mandate in 2024, which aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.
- Noah Rott, a deputy press secretary at the Sierra Club, in a statement: “When fully implemented, the boiler rule will avoid over 2,800 early deaths, 11,800 cases of asthma, and 300,000 lost work and school days, yielding over $95 billion in health benefits.”
The air board earlier this year backed down from extending the restrictions to residences…