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If you can’t ban it, label it

With help from Camille von Kaenel, Alex Nieves and Blanca Begert

HOME COOKING: America’s fight over gas stoves could be coming to an appliance store near you.

That’s where, under legislative proposals in California, New York and Illinois, stove shoppers would find labels warning that natural gas increases risks of respiratory disease, particularly for children (and pets, under California’s bill).

The proposals, originated by Ralph Nader’s Public Interest Research Group, are the latest iteration of a fight over natural gas in buildings that’s markedly more modest than the efforts to outlaw new gas stoves that inflamed Capitol Hill culture wars last year.

“We’re not banning gas stoves,” said California Assemblymember Gail Pellerin, who authored the state’s warning label proposal. “We’re just basically requiring them to be labeled, warning people about how to best use them with good ventilation.”

Still, they’ve drawn fierce opposition from the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, which represents Samsung, Whirlpool and other stove makers.

“We’re an industry that has been attacked over and over again over gas, which is a political agenda,” said AHAM spokesperson Jill Notini.

The label language is softening as each state’s legislative session progresses. New York’s proposed warning originally noted that components of natural gas, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, are “poisonous” and could “lead to the development of asthma, especially in children.” Lawmakers removed those phrases June 3, after AHAM pushed back on the asthma link in particular.

California’s is the only bill still moving — but it could have outsize impacts. About 70 percent of California households have gas stoves, a higher proportion than any other state, according to the Energy Information Administration.

California’s proposed label originally cited the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a state environmental health agency saying stoves emit pollutants indoors at concentrations that exceed outdoor air quality standards. Pellerin amended it last week to remove those references, while New York’s and Illinois’ bills retain the EPA reference.

Label backers — citing studies and an American Medical Association warning — say they’re concerned first about public health, but also about the climate.

The appliance manufacturers’ association remains opposed to all the bills despite the changes — and even some Democrats have reservations. Sen. Sean Ryan, a Democrat from the Buffalo area, called New York’s labeling proposal “ridiculous” and said he’s concerned it plays into “gas stove hysteria.”

But it’s where environmentalists see opportunity, after a federal court overturned Berkeley’s 2019 ban on new gas stoves, which a spate of other liberal cities had adopted. “In particular with cooking, we’ve seen some sensitivities around mandates,” said Matt Vespa, an attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice who’s watching the debate. “This is sort of just a common-sense step toward educating the public on the risks of gas, which a lot of people don’t know.” — WV

BACK TO BERKELEY: But there are new flickers of a fight back where it all started.

Environmental activists are pursuing an initiative to rework Berkeley’s 2019 ban on natural gas in new buildings, an effort to demonstrate the progressive enclave can still lead the electrification movement after a court decision overturned that landmark law, reports POLITICO’s Will McCarthy.

The initiative, which last month qualified for the November ballot, would institute a tax on owners of buildings over 15,000 square feet based on the amount of natural gas they use each year, with the revenue earmarked to electrify single family homes and smaller apartment buildings.

Environmentalists think the tax will succeed where the ban failed because it would allow building owners the option of continuing to use natural gas, as long as they are willing to pay. The group chose to pursue an initiative in large part because new taxes enacted through the ballot initiative process require only a simple majority, rather than a two-thirds vote of the city council.

“We’re threading that legal needle that we were constrained by with this ruling,” said campaign organizer Daniel Tahara. — WV

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FUEL FOR THE CAMPFIRE: Yet another front on the gas cooking fight: Sen. John Laird’s SB 1280, which would require small propane cylinders sold in the state to be reusable or refillable starting in 2028. The bill passed the Assembly Natural Resources Committee today but not without some questioning from Republican Assemblymember Heath Flora, a volunteer firefighter, who raised safety hazards around people refilling the containers themselves. In response, Laird invoked his endorsement from the California Professional Firefighters.

If you think this bill sounds familiar, that’s because a similar one by former Sen. Bob Wieckowski passed the legislature in 2022 but was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Proponents say the infrastructure for in-store refueling is more developed now and waiting until 2028 will give it time to develop further. — BB

FIRED UP: Wildfires are flaring up throughout a hot and windy California — and so is the debate about development in risky areas.

With Cal Fire battling active 14 fires as of Monday afternoon, the conflagrations are a reminder that June’s plentiful dry grasses can easily fuel major fires despite the National Interagency Fire Center’s forecast for a more subdued start to the fire year, with normal or below normal wildland fire potential for California in June and July.

They also come as California lawmakers and Newsom are ramping up talks on developer-friendly proposals to change how the state defines a wildfire-prone area.

Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva agreed today to narrow her California Building Industry Association-sponsored proposal, AB 3150, but the basics remain the same: It would let developers appeal and overturn their fire hazard label from Cal Fire if they show they’ve used fire-resistant materials and strategies like fuel breaks to lower the chances of damage.

But the changes, prompted by Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee staff, did not dislodge the opposition from environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, who are also concerned the bill would sideline the Board of Forestry in favor of the State Fire Marshal.

Nor did they sway Sen. Henry Stern, a Democrat from Sherman Oaks whose district is already experiencing a fire.

“I’m that angsty person who’s got people killed in fire zones during fires, and we got one going on right now,” said Stern in the hearing today. “So, I’m extra sensitive.”

His district is also just south of the state’s largest fire to date this year. Firefighters had the Post Fire in northwestern Los Angeles County only 8 percent contained on Monday afternoon after it burned over 15,000 acres and prompted the evacuation of 1,500 people from Hungry Valley State Park this weekend.

“I think there may just be some fundamental disagreements about where we should be building,” said Stern. “There’s a lot of reasons including an insurance crisis that we shouldn’t be wanting to do more development in these areas, period.”

Sen. Brian Dahle, whose Northern California district has also gone through large fires, argued the ability to change one’s wildfire hazard label could help, not hurt, people with insurance problems.

“There’s nobody that gives you a certificate that says hey, you did all these things and you actually drive your rate down,” said Dahle. “I’m hoping the mapping part of this will start that conversation … about what it is going to look like when we go out there and do these projects, or not do these projects.”

The bill passed with the support of Republicans (and Stern not voting).

Stern also criticized a brand new proposal, SB 610, which Sen. Scott Wiener introduced last week as a gut-and-amend. It would make sweeping changes to Cal Fire’s fire hazard maps, renaming areas at high and very high fire severity as “wildfire mitigation areas” and standardizing fire-resistant building requirements.

In response to Stern, the Building Industry Association’s Silvio Ferrari denied the group knew about the gut-and-amend before last week. (Sen. Laird also seemed surprised.)

Wiener spokesperson Erik Mebust said the senator was partnering with the governor’s office on the proposal. It’s scheduled for its first hearing next Monday in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.

Meanwhile, fire weather is set to continue: the National Weather Service issued a Red Flag warning for inner California through Tuesday evening because of wind gusts and low humidity. August could bring above average potential to Central California, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. — CvK

REBATES REBUFFED: Newsom used his first veto of the year Friday night to block legislation that would have offered rebates for gas-to-electric car conversions.

That bill, SB 301, would have required state regulators to develop a program for providing rebates of up to $4,000 per vehicle to drivers who decide to remove the fuel systems and replace them with electric motors. That process costs between $10,000 and $60,000 on average.

Newsom in his rejection message argued there’s no funding in the budget to support the program. That response surprised the Specialty Equipment Market Association, the bill’s sponsor, which said in a statement that it was written in a way “that it did not require any immediate spending.” The program wouldn’t have started unless lawmakers decided to fund it through a future budget, or if CARB opted to tap into an existing pool of money. — AN

MET TOO, PT. 2: The vote last Thursday by the board of Southern California’s main water agency to put general manager Adel Hagekhalil on administrative leave after the CFO accused him of creating a hostile work environment prompted an outpouring of support for his policies from environmentalists.

The other side may have been more quiet, judging from a letter the Hispanic Employees Association wrote to the Metropolitan Water District board on Thursday.

“There are employees experiencing a toxic workplace culture of increasing cronyism, discrimination, and intimidation under Mr. Hagekhalil,” the letter said. “Employees feel discouraged to file complaints with the union or EEO for fear of retaliation or impacts on their careers — the absence of public comments from these employees does not mean these issues do not exist.” — CvK

WHAT ABOUT MY MIRAI: Almost nobody talked about passenger cars at a daylong summit on hydrogen in Sacramento today. Amid a boom in plug-in electric cars, the California Hydrogen Leadership Summit conversation focused instead on hydrogen trucks, ports and trains.

Angelina Galiteva, CEO of California’s Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems, said passenger cars are “not something we need to focus on right now,” as the state tries to build out a hydrogen economy.

Galiteva said she expects the 37 California projects slated to receive Bipartisan Infrastructure Act funding to be announced in late July or August. She declined to share specifics, but said the benefits for heavy duty are becoming more evident, and industry representatives at the summit echoed the sentiment, citing increased truck sales and technological advances.

That’s a shift from the past. California’s support for hydrogen — which its Air Resources Board has said needs to be a part of the state’s transition to renewable energy — has focused on passenger cars since the days of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Sen. Josh Newman, a Mirai owner, was the exception today (along with Sen. Bob Archuleta), saying California should continue the passenger push that it has already invested in and should continue to support passenger hydrogen to keep its options open amid the transition.

But the popularity of Teslas and more favorable state and federal incentives have pushed electric vehicles far ahead of hydrogen cars in sales. The focus is shifting to heavier-duty sectors — particularly longer-distance hauling — due to state zero-emission regulations and industrial limitations of battery electric, such as long charging times. — WV

MEET THE TEAM: In Sacramento tomorrow? Come to our happy hour at the Fox & Goose Public House starting at 6 p.m., and don’t forget to RSVP.

It’s the same day as our morning transportation panel, where Debra will be moderating a conversation with legislators, regulators and labor leaders on the state’s EV transition at the Kimpton Sawyer Hotel.

CVP MANAGER: The Bureau of Reclamation announced today that it has made Levi Johnson’s acting role as operations manager for the Central Valley Operations office permanent. Johnson oversees the Central Valley Project, a system of dams, reservoirs, canals and aqueducts that delivers water, controls floods and produces power. — CvK