In 2017, CFROG helped the City of Ojai to ban noisy, dated, incredibly polluting gas-powered lawn equipment and transition the Ojai Public Works Department to battery power, saving 66 tons of CO2 annually and reducing smog and noise as an important co-benefit.This was the second community in the state and the first in Ventura County to do so – and CFROG is excited to see a similar state-wide future. 

The bold actions of one community can set a precedent for other agencies to follow suit. We focus on victories that can create ‘ripple effects’ like this.

Suggested Public Comments for CARB 2021 SORE regulations hearing:

• These regulations do nothing to address the massive harms caused by the existing inventory of an estimated 10.6 million pieces of residential and comercial lawn care equipment currently owned and operated in our state. But they do proposed prohibiting the production of new equipment to sell or lease for use in the State of California beginning in 2024. This is a modest but important step to advance greater use of cleaner, healthier and quieter equipment.
• As your own agency’s research has found, gas-powered lawn equipment makes up 69 percent of the state’s small off-road engines which together create more air pollution in California than all passenger vehicles combined! The use of gas-powered lawn equipment harms public health and pollutes our air, greatly contributing to California’s sad role as home to seven of the Top Ten most polluted cities in the nation.
• California risks losing federal funding if we continue to fail to meet national air quality standards. This is not an idle threat: just last month the Biden Administration blocked $12 billion in federal public transit funding because of a longstanding dispute regarding the state’s public pension laws.
• This equipment is especially harmful to those operating it. Gas-powered leaf blowers suspend particulate matter that operators inhale which contains asbestos, lead, and other cancer-causing elements.
• As your agency’s 2018 study found, “All gasoline-powered devices increased the operator’s exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including benzene and 1,3-butadiene which are carcinogens with no safe levels of exposure.” Your study also found that the noise emitted from gas-powered tools was up to 70 times greater than zero-emission tools and exceeds the levels of the relevant National and California Ambient Air Quality Standards. Persistent exposure to this kind of noise causes permanent hearing loss which in turn leads to a whole host of other health problems
• CARB’s public health benefit analysis determined that these new regulations, if adopted, will result in:
  • $8.8 billion in monetized health benefits through 2043
  • 892 lives saved from premature deaths
  • 438 fewer emergency room visits for asthma
  • 311 fewer hospitalizations for respiratory and cardiovascular issues
• Fortunately the California Legislature has appropriated $30 million for your agency to distribute to small proprietor landscapers and help them begin to acquire and transition to new, zero emission electric and manual equipment. In addition, air districts around the state are also operating effective buyback and subsidy programs.
• This new $30 million in funding is a welcome development but we need more state funding to facilitate and support this transition especially for small business owners. Funding also must be provided to support training programs to help landscapers switch to clean tools.
• These regulations advance legislation enacted this year (AB 1346) to phase out the sale of gas-powered lawn equpment beginning in 2024, and also advance Governor Gavin Newsom’s Executive order N-79-20 which sets a goal to transition off-road vehicles and equipment operations to 100 percent zero-emission by 2035 where feasible.

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