California will ban sales of new gas-powered lawnmowers, leaf blowers and chainsaws as early as 2024 under a new law signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on Saturday.
The law requires all newly sold small engines primarily used in landscaping to be zero emissions – essentially battery operated or plug-in – by that target date or once the California Air Resources Board determines it is feasible. New portable gas-powered generators must also be emission-free by 2028, which could also be delayed at the discretion of the state agency.
Machines with so-called small off-road engines also include chainsaws, weed trimmers, and golf carts, all of which cause as much smog pollution in California as light passenger cars, and reducing those emissions is critical to improving air quality and tackling climate change, proponents said The Law.
“It is amazing how people react when they learn how much these devices are polluting the environment and how many smog-forming and climate-changing emissions small off-road engines cause,” said Marc Berman MP (D-Menlo Park), author of the legislation . “This is a pretty humble approach to trying to limit the massive amounts of pollution these devices emit, not to mention the health effects on the workers who use them all the time.”
Berman said the state has allocated $ 30 million to help professional landscapers and gardeners make the transition from gas-powered devices to zero-emission devices.
Andrew Bray, Vice President, Government Relations, National Assn. of Landscape Professionals said that zero-emission commercial equipment used by landscapers is also prohibitively expensive and less efficient than the existing gas-powered legislators, leaf blowers, and other small machines that use it. For example, a gasoline-powered commercial ride-on mower costs between $ 7,000 and $ 11,000, while its zero-emissions equivalent costs more than double that amount, he said.
Another major cost factor will be batteries. Bray said a landscaping group of three would need to carry 30 to 40 fully charged batteries to power their equipment for a full day’s work.
“These companies need to completely re-tool their entire workshops to handle this massive voltage change so they can be recharged every day,” said Bray.
Berman said the transition to zero-emission landscaping equipment is already underway, especially with the vast majority of property owners who can mow their lawns and cut hedges on a single charge. Cities and universities have also started the conversion, he said. Berman also stressed that gas-powered equipment purchased before the deadlines can still be used by property owners as well as professional landscapers.
The legislation has been opposed by Republican lawmakers, as well as some Democrats who voiced concerns about how residents live in rural areas – especially when it comes to the state requirement that portable generators be emission-free.
In recent years, California has experienced widespread power outages at the height of forest fire season, when high winds sweep through the state, largely as utility companies try to prevent a rundown power line from starting a fire. Because of this, Senator Brian Dahle (R-Bieber) said there was no point banning gas-powered generators.
“This legislator hates fuel that is very sustainable. It’s easily accessible. And when the device is turned off, you can still use it. You can still run a generator to keep your freezer running to keep your medical equipment running. But if your battery is dead and there is no power, you have nothing, ”said Dahle.
Berman said these concerns are being addressed, and the law specifically requires the California Air Resources Board to adjust restrictions on generators based on their “expected availability” of that equipment in the commercial and retail markets.
The new law applies to any engine that is less than 25 gross horsepower, including lawn mowers, weed trimmers, chainsaws, golf carts, specialty vehicles, generators, and pumps. It does not apply to road vehicles, all-terrain motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles, boats, snowmobiles or model airplanes, cars or boats.
The California Air Resources Board has drafted regulations requiring small engines covered by the new law to be emission-free, and the board could enact those requirements before the end of the year.
The agency began work on the regulations after Newsom issued an executive order in September 2020 calling on the state to “move to 100 percent zero-emission off-road vehicles and equipment where possible by 2035”.
In the same order, Newsom needed by 2035 all new cars will be sold as zero-emission vehicles and raised his support for a ban on the controversial use of hydraulic fracturing by oil companies.
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