by Ed Maurer

At the June 7 meeting of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Governing Board meeting voted to implement the nation’s first zero-emissions standard for boilers (water heaters). Vanessa Delgado, South Coast AQMD's Governing Board Chair, summed up the importance of this decision: "This is the first all zero-emissions rule we've adopted, and the second highest reductions achieved from a rule in the past decade ̶ second only to our rule which reduced emissions from petroleum refineries by nearly 8 tpd of NOx. Not only is this a huge step towards improving air quality for our communities, it will have tremendous public health benefits." A coalition of environmental organizations worked hard to make this happen and celebrated the event before and after the vote.

Kim Orbe (center), the chapter’s Conservation Program Manager, was the lead in this effort.

There were three items that the Sierra Club has been heavily involved in and working with the community on. Before the board meeting began, we mobilized with over 15 of our movement partners and close to 100 folks for a Rally for Clean Air. The Rally demonstrated solidarity across our movements and our work on various rules that have huge impacts and benefits for cleaning up the air in our region. Shout out to the Angeles Chapter Volunteer leaders who turned out from LA and OC! Ray Hiemstra, Ed and Helen Maurer, Aura Vasquez, Michael Rochmes, and two Activist Academy grads Janelle Sangalang and Valeree Catangay (who now works with Earthjustice!)

1. Toxic Railyards: WE SET A DATE! Shout out to Impact Project members – PC4EJ, CCAEJ, Sierra Club, WLBA, Earthjustice – and others, the Governing Board set the rail hearing for August. Shout out to @Bobbi Jo Chavarria for all her tremendous work on this rule.
2. Polluter Fees (Rule 317.1): A big win to begin holding refineries and other large polluters accountable and an end to giving a free pass on ozone nonattainment fees. This was an incredible injustice that was addressed today. Congratulations to CBE, PC4EJ, EYCEJ, NRDC and Nihal from our team for their tireless advocacy over the years against this environmental injustice. Here is a great LA Times article featuring Paola from EYCEJ and Jane from CCAT - https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-06-07/southern-california-polluters-to-face-millions-in-annual-fees. Thank you @Nihal Shrinath for your hard work, sending talking points and working closely with our EJ partners on this. 
3. Zero-Emission Boilers (Rule 1146.2) – WE MADE HISTORY! This is the nation’s (probably the world’s) first zero-emissions standard for boilers. Awesome testimony from Industrious, RMI, Sierra Club, CBE, CCA, CCAT, and many others. This is the biggest emission-reducing rule since the refinery rule in 2021. The fossil fuel industry was present. The restaurant association that sued Berkeley for their Building Electrification ordinance called in to give comment as well as SoCal Gas. From Adrian Martinez from Earthjustice, "The most poetic part of this rule to me is that SoCalGas testified that they have over 50 boilers and other equipment covered under Rule 1146.2 that will be forced to electrify." A lot of work went into mobilizing for this rule and I have the tremendous privilege to work alongside an amazing coalition, partners, and chapter leaders on this.”

Thank you, Kim, for all your great work!

Related Articles:

• Briscoe, Tony. “Your Dip in the Pool with Soon Be Electric.” Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2024.
• “U.S. South Coast AQMD Approves Rule to Accelerate the Transition to Zero-Emissions for Building Water Heaters.” Gas Processing & LNG, Gas Processing & LNG, 10 June 2024, www.gasprocessingnews.com. Accessed June 18, 20214.