Groups urge Puget Sound to tackle indoor pollution from fossil fuel appliances with zero-emission standard

Seattle, WA — Nineteen health, environmental justice, and environmental groups submitted a public letter today calling on the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency (PSCAA) to tackle dangerous air pollution from fossil fuel heating appliances by kicking off development of a zero-emission standard, which would ensure that only pollution-free heating appliances like heat pumps are sold beginning from a specified start date. Gas furnaces and water heaters in homes and businesses are responsible for 30 times more lung-damaging nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution than power plants in the Puget Sound region.

“Disproportionate exposure to unhealthy air is one of the clearest examples of environmental racism. A history of inequality and systemic marginalization — like redlining — directly harms the health of low-income communities and communities of color,” said Paula Sardinas, Founder of WA Build Back Black Alliance (WBBA).

Earlier this year, air quality regulators in the San Francisco Bay Area passed the nation's first zero-emission appliance standard, which could serve as a model for PSCAA.  The State of California is likely to follow in the Bay Area’s footsteps when regulators at the California Air Resource Board kick off development of their own appliance standard next month –  the first step toward meeting their commitment to phase out the sale of gas heating by 2030.

A zero-emission appliance standard in the Puget Sound region would lay the groundwork for highly efficient electric heat pumps, which provide both heating and cooling, to become the standard in homes. Transitioning from fossil fuel heating appliances to electric heat pumps would deliver public health improvements equivalent to eliminating NOx pollution from half of the region's heavy duty vehicles.  

“Indoor air quality is largely unregulated but presents a significant health risk, especially for asthma, cardiovascular disease, and dementia. Children who live in homes with gas stoves have a 40 percent higher incidence of asthma symptoms and nearly 13 percent of childhood asthma cases are attributable to indoor pollution," said Dr. Mark Vossler, M.D. of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. "These impacts are completely preventable with improved ventilation and a transition to all electric appliances. This transition will be accelerated by regulation of indoor air pollution.”

Statewide, air pollution from gas appliances in homes is also a cause for concern. About 40 percent of Washington homes burn fossil fuels in building appliances such as gas furnaces and water heaters. According to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency data, fossil fuel appliances in homes and businesses emit more NOx pollution than all of the state's power plants combined. 

“PSCAA has the opportunity to protect public health and safety, and take a major step to lead the state in the transition buildings off of polluting gas and to high efficiency electric heat pumps,” said Dylan Plummer, Senior Campaign Representative with the Sierra Club. “As Washington grapples with the twin public health and climate crises facing our state, we need regulators across the state to take concrete action to protect our clean air, our climate, and our communities.”

In addition to tackling a major source of dangerous air pollution, transitioning homes to highly-efficient zero-emission appliances like heat pumps can also deliver more affordable utility bills for households and expand access to cooling in homes, which is a major public health necessity in the Pacific Northwest as extreme heat events become more common with climate change. 

To ensure that the communities of color and low-income communities most burdened by air pollution, the climate crisis, and high energy bills are not burdened by the cost of the transition, groups call for PSCAA's zero-emission appliance standard to go into effect in 2030, which will provide substantial lead time for a planning process focused on facilitating an affordable transition for low-income residents. They request regulators commit to a equity review "checkpoint" before regulations go into effect to ensure communities aren't left behind. 

“Designed properly, standards will serve as a catalyst and market signal to drive the action and direct investments needed to implement the transition successfully for all residents,” the groups wrote in their public letter to PSCAA. 

See the full list of letter signatures here.