Modernizing Southern California's industrial boilers will bring cleaner air and save lives.
Southern California is home to approximately 1,900 industrial boilers. These boilers, used by manufacturers, schools, and hospitals, burn fossil fuels and emit massive amounts of smog-forming pollution, worsening our region’s air quality crisis and relying on an increasingly outdated technology.
South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) is considering vital new rules to crack down on this hidden source of pollution, but SoCalGas and the fossil fuel industry are fighting to protect their profits at the expense of our health.
Industrial boilers are a major source of nitrogen oxides (NOx), the pollution that’s causing breathing problems, heart problems, reproductive issues, cancer, and early death. These boilers are often located near low-income communities and communities of color, subjecting the most vulnerable to dangerous air pollution and furthering existing health inequities.
The SCAQMD has led the country in passing life-saving rules and they can protect our health while creating good-paying jobs by enacting zero-emission rules for industrial boilers.
They need to hear from the people they represent. Every signature shows that our community wants clean air and life-saving protections.
Explore the map below to see how pollution from industrial boilers affects your community.
Replacing California’s outdated industrial boilers with clean heat technology would prevent nearly 2 million asthma attacks and 3,220 premature deaths between 2030-2050, delivering $47.5 billion in cumulative health benefits statewide including fewer missed work and school days, fewer hospital visits, and more.
California businesses are already adopting clean heat technology
Zero-emission solutions like industrial heat pumps and electric boilers are more efficient and can meet the needs of a wide range of manufacturers, as well as hospitals and universities.
These technologies perform better, faster, cheaper, safer, quieter, and cleaner than the 19th century combustion technologies they replace. Other states and countries are already transitioning to this newer technology. California cannot afford to fall behind and lose its competitive edge.
Small steps, big gains for our health
In 2024, SCAQMD updated Rule 1146.2: a landmark regulation that will require zero-emission boilers before any other region of the country. This rule will eliminate 5.6 tons of NOx pollution every day by 2033—the equivalent of nearly half the combined NOx emissions from every car in the region.
Our region cannot achieve the health protections required under federal law unless SCAQMD phases out pollution from larger boilers through Rules 1146 and 1146.1. By targeting this easily electrifiable equipment and updating these rules, our regulators can protect community health, create good jobs, and support the Southern California economy.