Do you own or operate a commercial building or multifamily unit?
Many of our BizFed members do. They're affected by new regulations phasing out natural gas water heaters and boilers in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange counties. It's the most expensive rule ever adopted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and applies to all new and existing commercial buildings and multifamily units. Compliance is expected by 2026 for new buildings, and a phased-in approach starting in 2029 for existing buildings. Click here for details about how this could affect you.
The SCAQMD Governing Board adopted PAR 1146.2 this month – despite our relentless advocacy for a pause to collect more stakeholder feedback and consider alternative, less economically burdensome solutions. Projected costs for this rule fall between $49 and $97 million per year, according to agency staff. Analysis from outside experts show costs could be 5 to 10 times higher than SCAQMD's estimate.
BizFed rallied diverse business leaders from a variety of impacted sectors and spent months working with agency staff to heavily amend the rule, making it less disruptive for businesses of all sizes and sectors. We arranged business walkthroughs, provided cost analyses, and amplified thoughtful feedback explaining why switching from natural gas to electric boilers and water heaters is difficult – or impossible for some businesses.
We made sure agency staff heard concerns from the smallest business owners in our network (who would be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars in compliance costs) to larger property owners (who estimated their costs could reach tens of millions of dollars). You stepped up and spoke up when we asked you to force-multiply the reach of this advocacy messaging. Here's how you made a meaningful difference.
BizFed will continue working with SCAQMD staff to provide business community feedback leading up to the 2027 feasibility check-in. We thank the following BizFed leaders for their support on this issue. We couldn't have done it without their chorus of vital voices. Please contact BizFed Director of Advocacy Sarah Wiltfong at sarah.wiltfong@bizfed.org with questions.
