California moves to ban sale of gas-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers
California could soon ban the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers under a bill the Legislature passed and sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday.
Assembly Bill 1346 would direct the California Air Resources Board to phase out the sale of “small off-road engines” by 2024, or as soon as the board finds feasible, whichever is later.
The bill also requires the Air Resources Board to identify and make available, where feasible, funding for commercial rebates or similar incentive funding.
The bill’s author, Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, tweeted on Wednesday that the state will spend $30 million “to help gardeners transition to cleaner, greener equipment.”
Berman’s bill comes as part of a state effort to cut down on air pollution. One hour of gas-powered leaf blower use is equivalent in emissions to a vehicle driving 1,100 miles from Los Angeles to Denver, according to the Air Resources Board.
“Gallon for gallon, these engines pollute at a substantially higher rate than other equipment and vehicles,” Berman said in presenting the bill earlier this year.
The bill was supported by a coalition of groups, including the American Lung Association in California, Sierra Club California and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
“There are zero-emission equivalents to all (small off-road engines) that are regulated by the California Air Resources Board, generally electric alternatives that run on batteries or plug into an outlet. Many users, including over half of household users, have already begun the transition to zero-emission equipment,” the coalition said in a statement of support for the bill.
The bill was opposed by several Republican lawmakers, like Senate GOP Leader Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, who tweeted Wednedsay that AB 1346 is a bad bill that “makes life harder for landscapers.”
“Banning the sale of new gas powered leaf blowers & mowers? They’re not ‘super polluters,’ but massive wildfires fueled by poor forest management sure are. Why not address those instead of picking on the little guy?” Wilk tweeted.
The bill also was opposed by the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, which said in a statement that the bill would “pose numerous technology feasibility, economic, and implementation challenges for industry stakeholders. Collectively these challenges are insurmountable and will result in significant hardships for manufacturers, retailers and end-users, culminating in an early market shortfall of products with high consumer need and demand.”
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 2:22 PM with the headline "California moves to ban sale of gas-powered lawn mowers and leaf blowers."