Bay Area Air Quality
Management District
Amendments to
Regulation 9, Rule 6
Background
In March 2023, the Bay Area Air Quality Management
District Board of Directors adopted amendments to
Regulation 9, Rule 4 and Rule 6.
▪ These amendments set zero nitrogen oxides (NOx)
emissions standards for space and water heating
throughout the nine-county Bay Area Air District.
• Rules would ban the sale of qualifying NOx-emitting
appliances in the Bay Area
• Does not require replacement of existing appliances
• Does not mandate jurisdictions to alter building codes 2 Timeline and
Process BAAQMD proposes to phase implementation
across three dates:
• January 1, 2027: water heaters less than 75,000
BTU/hr
• January 1, 2029: all applicable furnaces
• January 1, 2031: water heaters between 75,000
BTU/hr and less than 2 million BTU/hr
▪ BAAQMD staff must present research findings two
years before each implementation
▪ BAAQMD Board of Directors has opportunity to
modify rules and/or timelines
3 Timeline and
Process
In December 2024, BAAQMD staff presented
findings related to Rule 9-6 implementation (small
water heaters).
▪ Public engagement and comment to continue into
2025 with more significant public outreach
▪ BAAQMD staff returning to their BOD in Q2-2025
with update addressing key comments and proposed
options for rule modifications
4 Rule 9-6 Overview
Focus on small tanked water heaters (75 gallons or less) for residential homes
▪ Proposed implementation milestone: January 1, 2027
▪ Does not include large tanked water heaters (75
gallons+), gas tankless water heaters, or centralized
unitary water heaters found in multifamily buildings
▪ Heat pump water heaters (HPWH) offer the best solution for compliance
5 Image courtesy of Hot Water Solutions.
Key Areas of
Concern:
BAAQMD BOD
▪ Equity and Affordability
▪ Operating Cost and Health Considerations
▪ Edge Cases and Data Analysis
▪ Enforcement and Compliance
▪ Space and Installation Challenges
▪ Emerging Technologies
6 Public Comment on Rule Changes ▪ Commenters consisted of advocacy groups, CBOs, jurisdictions, housing, labor and
contractors
▪ Majority of commentors were supportive of the
the rules and keeping the proposed timeline
▪ Personal testimonials about health impacts of
inaction, successes using incentive programs
▪ Assets to success: Incentive programs,
contractor and workforce readiness
▪ Highlighted challenges: Space constraints,
upfront costs, permitting, service upgrade wait
times, need for more outreach into the
community
7 Takeaways from
December
BAAQMD Meeting ▪ Equity and affordability are paramount ▪ BAAQMD keeping the proposed timeline for
now, but ready to pivot pending further
findings
▪ Don’t wait on public outreach
▪ Address permitting – put out model ordinance
▪ More research is needed to understand
incremental cost and edge cases
8 CCA Involvement
Bay Area CCAs included in BAAQMD’s multi-stakeholder
Implementation Working Group (IWG) effort.
▪ CCA staff and leadership have held regular meetings
since 2023 to discuss rules
▪ CCA leadership have meet with BAAQMD leadership
once per quarter (Next meeting January 27)
▪ CCAs are not directly involved in rulemaking outside of acting in an advisory role
9 CCA Opportunities
▪Rapid acceleration of building electrification
▪Significant GHG, NOx, and PM2.5 emissions
reductions throughout Bay Area
▪Reduction in avoidable healthcare costs and
premature death
▪CCAs can demonstrate value through customer
assistance programs
10 Image courtesy of Hot Water Solutions.
Key Areas of Concern for CCAs
Impacts to low-income communities
▪ Need for additional, sustained funding sources to
offset incremental costs for low-income community
members
▪ Pass through costs pushed down to renters and
tenant protections
▪ Energy affordability
▪ May push rule subversion/avoidance with
unpermitted work
▪ Reliance on CCA program funding
▪ Lack of representation
▪ Lack of community awareness
11 Key Areas of Concern for CCAs
12 Exceptions for hard to install/space constrained water heaters
▪ Tanked water heaters that are 30 gallons or less
▪ Exceptionally high cost to electrify due to necessary structural modifications
▪ Ability to accommodate exceptions through
compliance framework, if adopted
Public relations and marketing
▪ CCAs role to communicate rules to customers
▪ Separation from rule enforcement