California’s leaf blower menace could meet its end with clean air bill. But is it too broad?
Leaf blowers are a constant source of misery to Sacramento residents who work from home or have children taking online classes. Their morning roar torments everyone, and the dust and debris that gets kicked up is even more agonizing during allergy season.
Assembly Bill 1346, authored by Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, would help put an end to the scourge of air-polluting and ear-splitting leaf blowers. AB 1346 would begin phasing out new gas-powered leaf blowers, lawnmowers and other “small off-road engines” in 2024 or sooner, depending on future guidance from the state’s air quality regulator. It would also create a pathway to widespread use of electric or battery-powered alternatives.
“One hour of use of a gas-powered leaf blower produces the equivalent emissions of a vehicle driving 1,100 miles from Los Angeles to Denver, according to the California Air Resources Board,” The Sacramento Bee’s Andrew Sheeler reported.
“Gallon for gallon, these engines pollute at a substantially higher rate than other equipment and vehicles,” Berman told The Bee.
The air quality dangers are legitimate in densely-populated neighborhoods where leaf blowers befoul the air on a daily basis. In November, Sacramento’s city council banned them on bad air days.
AB 1346 will do everyone a favor by helping eliminate gas-powered leaf blowers, but the bill as currently written goes too far by including other gas-powered tools like chainsaws and wood chippers. The broader approach on small gas engines will harm rural parts of the state where these types of tools are essential.
Firewood cutting is crucial for warming homes during the cold winter months in Northern California’s forested regions. It also provides economic activity for permitted cutters who sell wood. The U.S. Forest Service incentivizes cutting that doubles as fire prevention by targeting hazardous fuel that builds up on the forest floor.
Sure, gas pollution is dangerous. But so is smoke from catastrophic wildfires. Are battery-powered alternatives efficient enough to achieve the massive forest-thinning goals under California’s new $536 million wildfire prevention plan?
The vast majority of funding covers forest management, including clearing brush and prescribed burns. About $30 million is earmarked for home hardening to help residents build defensible spaces around their homes. All require the type of machinery that Berman’s bill would regulate.
Even though the Assembly’s Committee on Natural Resources advanced the bill last week, members expressed doubts about whether battery-powered alternatives were feasible for such a wide range of equipment.
“In other applications, such as pumps, generators, and chainsaws, current zero-emission (small off-road engine) technology may be inadequate even if money is no object, particularly when used in rural areas without convenient access to recharging,” the committee wrote in its analysis.
AB 1346 has great intentions. It offers rebates so commercial operators can upgrade their equipment. It also aligns with California’s zero-emission climate goals.
It misses the mark, however, by targeting all small gas-powered engines instead of focusing on the most serious problem to air quality and sanity: gas-powered leaf blowers.
Berman should tighten AB 1346’s focus and do everyone a favor by expelling gas-powered leaf blowers from California immediately. The bill’s effort to eventually ban a wider swath of gas-powered engines could impact vital public safety measures in rural communities. By reducing the bill’s chances of passage, the overly-broad approach could squander a perfect opportunity to help eradicate the gas-powered leaf blower menace for good.