Sander Kushen, sander.kushen@sierraclub.org
LOS ANGELES — A federal court on Friday upheld the South Coast Air Quality Management District's (SCAQMD) zero-emission boiler rules against a challenge brought by industry groups. Sierra Club, the People's Collective for Environmental Justice and Industrious Labs, with representation from Earthjustice, intervened to help defend the standards in court.
“This decision cements vital health protections for over 17 million Californians in the Los Angeles area breathing dirty air,” said Kim Orbe, Acting Director of Sierra Club’s Angeles Chapter. “After years of advocating for strong standards to protect air quality and public health, especially in the region’s most disadvantaged communities, we are ready to see these boiler standards put into action.”
Passed in 2024, SCAQMD's zero-emission boiler rules will reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxides by 5.6 tons per day—the equivalent of nearly half the NOx emissions from every car in the region combined. The rules are designed to clean up the air in the nation’s most polluted region, which the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has designated as being in “extreme” violation of health-based air quality standards.
“The district court drew a line in the sand: Industry efforts to invalidate local regulations with claims of federal preemption have a limit. That line is crossed when they challenge long-standing state and local authority to regulate their own air,” said Sierra Club staff attorney Nihal Shrinath. “We hope this win in the courts will motivate the South Coast and other air quality agencies to address smog-forming emissions from residential and commercial buildings.”
The court's order agrees with legal arguments made by SCAQMD and intervenor groups, emphasizing the South Coast’s need for its boiler standards to address longstanding air quality issues. The court agreed that "there is no reason to believe that Congress ever intended or even contemplated that the EPCA would preempt emission regulations designed to combat air pollution.”
In a win for local electrification efforts nation-wide, the court rejected the industry groups' arguments that the "very narrow" Berkeley decision should apply in this case. In the California Restaurant Association v. Berkeley case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned Berkeley’s historic prohibition on gas piping in new city buildings.
“For the sake of our lungs, we are thrilled this landmark rule to advance zero-emission industrial boilers has been upheld by federal court,” said Candice Youngblood, attorney on Earthjustice’s Right To Zero campaign. “These machines pump out smog-forming air pollution equivalent to half of all the cars in the LA region. This decision recognizes our air regulators’ long-established authority to adopt life-saving protections — and sends an undeniable signal to manufacturers and businesses that the future of California’s industrial sector is electric.”
“SCAQMD’s emission standards are nothing like the prohibition on gas connections that the Ninth Circuit struck down in Berkeley,” continued Shrinath. “The court saw right through industry groups’ attempt to rely on that case.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.