ABG: California law will ban sale of new gas-powered lawn equipment

California law will ban sale of new gas-powered lawn equipment

There are more than 16.7 million of these small engines in the state

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https://www.autoblog.com/2021/10/11/california-lawn-mower-gas-engine-ban/

Not strictly vehicles or I would have put this in the "Government subsidies, perks and mandates" topic, but important:

. . . Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a new law on Saturday that orders state regulators to ban the sale of new gas-powered equipment using small off-road engines, a broad category that includes generators, lawn equipment and pressure washers.

The California Air Resources Board has already started working on a rule to do this, a lengthy process scheduled to conclude early next year. But the law Newsom signed on Saturday removes any doubt, ordering the agency to apply the new rule by Jan. 1, 2024, or as soon as regulators determine is “feasible,” whichever date is later. . . .

California has more than 16.7 million of these small engines in the state, about 3 million more than the number of passenger cars on the road. California was the first government in the world to adopt emission standards for these small engines in 1990. But since then, emissions in cars have vastly improved compared with smaller engines.

Now, state officials say running a gas-powered leaf blower for one hour emits the same amount of pollution as driving a 2017 Toyota Camry from Los Angeles to Denver, a distance of about 1,100 miles (1,770 kilometers).

The law Newsom signed also orders regulators to offer rebates for people to change out their equipment, a move aimed at landscaping businesses that use these machines more often. The state budget, approved earlier this year, includes $30 million to pay for this effort.

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I've been wanting this for decades.

It'll be like wearing a mask. People will be running leaf blowers in the grocery store, just to prove that they are Real Americans.

I have a Stihl battery trimmer which is powerful enough to use the steel cutting blade for trees up to an inch or so, and string trims beautifully. This machine gets used in the sugar lots to trim out saplings. Uses the same batteries as my push-type lawn mower, which also works flawlessly (although I sometimes miss the driven wheels, lazy as I have become...)

Wow, I'm not sure how I feel about that but it's crazy running a gas leaf blower can emit as many pollutants as a newer car driving 1100 miles! I know CA has been pretty strict on their lawn equipment for years as a relative worked for Toro for many years and was always saying how strict CA was to sell in, basically impossible to sell 2-stroke equipment and CA along with many areas in Europe were a driving force in cleaning up much of the lawncare business, even though we all know, businesses will "do the right thing" even without government regulations as Republicans are fond of saying......
Personally, I've been using a battery-powered Makita leaf blower for several years and I just love it, I always hated gas-powered leaf blowers, noisy, stinky, a bitch to start, etc. I despised them. My first battery-powered blower was probably 10? years ago, an 18v Mikita and was kind of a toy, always felt like I could blow harder myself. My newer 36v model(two 18v batteries) kicks ass, makes short work of blowing leaves and other debris, quick to charge and with 5 or 6 Ah batteries lasts quite a long time, I love it. I've been using a battery-powered weed-whip for decades, first 6v models that used the small fishing line type string and later an 18v model that used the thicker line and could really knock down even larger weeds, my model is 15?? years but still does a decent job but I'm sure newer models are even better. I have a JD riding lawn mower with an 18hp engine that gets a workout with my 2/3 acre mowable hilly lot and think it would be pretty hard as well as very expensive to go EV as I like to let it get pretty long before mowing but I have seen some pretty decent looking not as expensive push-style lawnmowers. Obviously, no way to go EV with a generator :lol: and I'd think power washers would also be hard due to the extreme power and compactness required for those.

To me, one of the biggest sources of smelly belching ICE devices are outboard motors and I didn't see it specifically mentioned in the link. I personally don't have one and I'm talking more about outboards and not inboards which I suppose could almost be as clean as a car, although with the advent of more and more 4-stroke outboards they are getting cleaner. No for the most part there would be no way to get a battery outboard with enough weight to power as outboards are currently used, sorry Bobcart your battery boat does look nice but I just can't see 15 people cramming on an EV pontoon or even an EV speed boat pulling a wakeboard around filled with half a dozen drunk partygoers, just not practicle.

In case you're a weirdo like me and want to know what "small off road engine" means:

LeftieBiker said:

It'll be like wearing a mask. People will be running leaf blowers in the grocery store, just to prove that they are Real Americans.

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Great. No doubt some patriot will be "rolling coal" at me with their Toro as I go down the sidewalk.

It seems like enforcement will be less of a challenge than it is with mask wearing, because it's the *sale* of ICE equipment that's banned (not the use).

Sure, you can still go out of state to buy them, or out of the trunk of someone that did. But the majority of buyers will do it the usual way (big box, online), they just won't have the ICE option any more. I suspect only the true die-hard "I have a right to pollute" consumer would go to the extra trouble of getting their pollution machine outside the normal channels. (Or perhaps those that feel the electric approach won't meet their needs.)

I knew the day would come that sale of these would be banned. What I really want is a ban on their *use*, but I understand that the enforcement of such a ban can be challenging. It would have to be more of a ban on their possession, which starts to raise 'freedom' issues (a'la firearms).

jjeff said:

Wow, I'm not sure how I feel about that but it's crazy running a gas leaf blower can emit as many pollutants as a newer car driving 1100 miles!

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I know, at first glance to me, it seems very counter-intuitive that a tiny gas engine makes more pollution than a large gas engine. It just comes down to technology and efficiency. The small engines often burn the gas and lubricating oil at the same time, creating even more pollution. Another thing is efficiency of the two. The small engine is very, very, inefficient verse the larger car engine. Think about how far you can "drive" in typical gas car with only 1 gallon of gas. It is many miles usually. Think of how far a lawn mower engine could "drive" a car. Not very far on the same amount of fuel. I've seen videos of people putting lawn mower engines into gas cars for giggles and driving around, they always note how much gas it consumes to do a short, simple drive. :lol: