After a half-day meeting on Friday, the South Coast Air Quality Management District voted to reject rules that would have phased out gas-powered appliances for homes and buildings across the basin.
The two new rules would have required manufacturers to begin selling zero-emission furnaces and water heaters starting in 2027. By 2036, 90 percent of those appliances sold in the region would have been electric.
Ultimately, the board opted to vote 7-5 to oppose the rules, arguing that the cost of the transition would impact businesses and households who are already overburdened by expenses. The rules now head back to a committee and are unlikely to be up for a vote until next year.
“The timing, with so much uncertainty in our country, with people losing their jobs…it just doesn't seem like it's the right time to do this,” said Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock-Dawson, who serves on the board. “But I know people's health can't wait. I mean…it's a very difficult decision.”
Over two years, the AQMD worked with industry and environmental groups to draft rules targeting water heaters and furnaces, which are major sources of smog-forming pollution. The agency estimated the rules could have prevented 2,500 premature deaths, 2,500 ER visits and 10,000 asthma cases, saving $25 billion in health costs.
The original proposal called for all furnaces and water heaters in new homes and buildings to be zero-emission by 2026. But the AQMD amended the rules last fall after industry groups raised concerns about the feasibility and cost of zero-emission technology.
Ahead of the vote, AQMD officials presented a revised version of the rules. Under the new plan, manufacturers and consumers would still be able to sell and buy gas appliances, but companies would be required to pay a fee that funds rebate programs aimed at cutting emissions.
Despite the amendments, the gas industry worked to lobby local cities and business groups to stop the rules entirely. SoCalGas and officials from cities across SoCal argued the rules would raise costs for businesses and homeowners already struggling with high living expenses. Some questioned whether electric alternatives were even viable.
“The fact that it's a consumer choice is just a farce,” said Bob Karwin, mayor pro tem of the City of Menifee. “If electric was cheaper, faster, safer, people would choose it on their own.”
U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli also weighed in, warning the AQMD in a letter late Thursday that he intended to sue if the rules are adopted.
“California regulators are on notice: if you pass illegal bans or penalties on gas appliances, we’ll see you in court,” Essayli wrote in a post on social media. “The law is clear—feds set energy policy, not unelected climate bureaucrats.”
Environmentalists who supported the rule expressed disappointment in the board’s decision, accusing members of buying into what they called the gas industry’s “misinformation and astroturfing” campaigns.
“Failing to adopt this standard because of the Trump administration’s bullying will only encourage efforts to ignore the law,” Gaytan said. “It will only embolden oil and gas industry interests to ramp up the misinformation campaign to derail lifesaving regulations. Let’s be clear: this rule is not a ban. It’s not even a mandate.”
In response, board members who voted against the rule pushed back on claims that they were swayed by the gas industry, saying they were responding to concerns from constituents.
“The gas company to me was just another voice,” said Lock-Dawson. “They had no outsized influence.”
