Ninth Circuit rejects industry challenge to SoCal clean air rule for boilers, water heaters

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld on Thursday South Coast Air Quality Management District’s (SCAQMD) zero-emission standard for boilers and water heaters, rejecting an industry challenge to a landmark clean air rule that will clean up pollution from industrial and commercial equipment. The People’s Collective for Environmental Justice, Sierra Club, and Industrious Labs, with representation from Earthjustice and Donahue, Goldberg & Herzog, intervened to help defend the standard in court.

“Today, we secured a huge victory for clean air in the nation’s smog capital. The courts have rejected a cynical effort to stop one of the Los Angeles region’s most significant air pollution reduction rules in decades,” said Candice Youngblood, Senior Attorney, Earthjustice.

SCAQMD passed its zero-emission boiler rule in 2024 to help address the persistent air quality problems that have made the Los Angeles region the most smog-polluted in the nation and led the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to designate it as being in “extreme” violation of health-based air quality standards. The region’s smallest industrial boilers alone are responsible for nearly 10% of smog-forming nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions from all stationary sources in the region. Rule 1146.2 will reduce smog-forming NO_x pollution by 5.6 tons per day — equivalent to nearly half the NO_x emissions from every car in the region combined.

“Inland Empire communities are getting crushed by air pollution, and this ruling provides a breath of fresh air to make our communities safer,” said Gem Montes, Policy Analyst and Advocate, People’s Collective for Environmental Justice.

Today’s ruling directly impacts more than 1.3 million water heaters and industrial boilers used in large facilities and manufacturing facilities across Southern California — a major source of smog-forming pollution that threatens the health of nearby residents. 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.

“This ruling paves the way to continue modernizing our region by upgrading over a million pieces of equipment, which will bring new jobs and investment into the region while tackling the air quality crisis head on,” said Teresa Cheng, California Director, Industrious Labs.

“The courts continue to side with reasonable and sensible local efforts to reduce pollutants and smog like SCAQMD’s rule that is estimated to avoid 2,800 early deaths, 11,800 cases of asthma, and $95 billion in health public health benefits,” said Dylan Plummer, Campaign Advisor with the Sierra Club. “These boiler rules help the region adopt modern technology that reduces harmful pollution, a critical priority for the people in the LA Basin.”