Securing a Huge Win to Clean Up our Air and our Transition towards Electrification
We have much to celebrate from June’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) Governing Board Meeting, the local agency responsible for setting standards to clean up our air. There were three items that the Sierra Club has been working with the community on for YEARS. The Sierra Club mobilized with over 15 of our movement partners to Rally for Clean Air. With over one hundred clean air advocates, we rallied to demonstrate solidarity across our movements and our work on the various rules that have huge impacts and benefits for cleaning up the air in our region.
We had three wins:
- The Governing Board set a date for the rule required for cleaning up our existing toxic rails. The date was set for August. This has been years in the making, with EJ community leading this work.
- 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 is a one step towards beginning to address the injustices that have harmed our communities.
- WE MADE HISTORY! This is the nation’s (probably the world’s) first zero-emission standard for boilers by passing rule 1146.2.
By adopting rule 1146.2, the South Coast Air Quality Management District made one of the biggest moves to reduce air pollution in the past decade! This rule will require a transition to phase out certain kinds of natural-gas-fired water-heating equipment in homes and businesses across the region. pool and hot tub owners to go electric. This is the biggest emission-reducing rule since the refinery rule in 2021. 1146.2 will replace more than 1 million gas-burning appliances with zero-emissions technology in the next decade.
The impacts of these rules on clean air are monumental, benefiting the over 17 million people who reside in the SCAQMD which includes: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and part of San Bernardino.
It was an energizing moment to see our community in action and standing and let the SCAQMD know we will continue to turn out to ensure strong regulations are set in our region to transition all our sectors from polluting fossil fuel sources, to clean, zero-emission.
Our work towards zero-emissions equipment continues! This is just the beginning. We will begin working on rules that will tackle residential emissions. If you are passionate about clean air and combating climate change, we hope you are inspired to volunteer and organize with us. You can read more about the win in our press release here.
Kim Orbe is the Senior Conservation Program Manager for the Sierra Club Angeles Chapter and leads local Building Electrification Campaign
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