Posted on 10/15/2021 7:41:50 AM PDT by Yo-Yo
CARB says there are 16.7 million small engines in the state compared to 13.7 million passenger vehicles, drastically affecting emissions.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed legislation that aims to ban the sale of gas-powered lawn equipment, generators, and other small engines designed for off-road use.
This new law builds from the executive order signed by Newsom in 2020 that bans the sale of new passenger cars powered by internal combustion engines in 2035. In the same order, Newsom calls for "100 percent zero-emission off-road vehicles and equipment," the phaseout of which must now be road mapped by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2022 and officially put in place by 2024.
The text of the signed bill specifically calls for the banning of small off-road engines (SORE), calling out emergency response equipment and generators as well as both residential and commercial lawn equipment.
However, the SORE category expands past the named items. CARB officially defines SOREs as off-road spark-ignition engines that produce 25 horsepower or less. Other equipment examples given by the board include industrial, logging, golf carts, and specialty vehicles. It's not yet clear how this will affect small off-road recreational and sport vehicles like ATVs and dirt bikes, though most exceed that 25-hp threshold.
“Small gas engines are not only bad for our environment and contributing to our climate crisis, they can cause asthma and other health issues for workers who use them,” said Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, a co-sponsor of the bill. “It’s time we phased out these super polluters, and help small landscaping businesses transition to cleaner alternatives.”
There are currently 16.7 million small engines in California, according to a fact sheet supplied by CARB. That's significantly more than the state's fleet of 13.7 million passenger vehicles. Approximately 77 percent is made up of residential lawn and garden equipment, while federally regulated construction and farming machinery make up 11 percent. The remaining 9 percent is attributed to commercial lawn and garden, which may be hit hardest by this legislation.
These fleets of small engines are responsible for a substantial amount of the state's emissions. In fact, CARB says that running a leaf blower for an hour is equivalent to driving a 2017 Toyota Camry for 1,100 miles.
Marc Berman, author of the legislation, recognizes that the transition to battery-powered equipment will be a hardship for some small businesses. He says that California will pledge approximately $30 million to aid commercial businesses, but given that there are around 50,000 outfits in the state that'll be affected by the change, that works out to around $600 each.
According to financial figures supplied to the Los Angeles Times by Andrew Bray, vice president of government relations for the National Association of Landscape Professionals, that simply isn't enough. A gasoline-powered commercial riding mower could cost a business anywhere from $7,000 to $11,000, while the zero-emissions equivalents often cost more than twice that.
Equipment cost aside, there are also logistical concerns. For example, Bray believes that a three-person crew would need to carry as many as 40 fully-charged batteries to complete a full day's work. Additionally, these small companies may even need to upgrade their workshops to handle the daily charging of this equipment.
Legislators have their concerns as well. Given California's history of brownouts and power grid problems, some lawmakers like Senator Brian Dahle say that banning critical fuel-based power backup mechanisms like generators makes no sense.
"[Fuel] is very sustainable. It’s easy to access. And when the power is off, you can still use it," said Dahle. "You can still run a generator to keep your freezer going, to keep your medical devices going. But when your battery’s dead and there’s no power on, you have nothing.”
California will require that the ARB determine the regulations which will govern small engines no later than July 1, 2022. The adopted regulations will be put in place 18 months later on Jan. 1, 2024.
Same here. The first time that it happened my dad just threw me a roll of black electrician’s tape and said f”Fix it.”
The only positive, which came from the global warming hoax is that the cordless equipment is now useful. The batteries are a lot better now than they used to be. I just replaced my cord lawnmower with cordless and have bunch of cordless stuff like trimmers, screwdrivers etc.
However that’s OK for home use.
For commercial use, I guess they have to haul a truckload of batteries. And, like chainsaws, there are none suitable for heavy commercial use.
When we will have blackouts, the electrical generators will surely come handy!
Joke!
Gas powered yard equipment = Mexican bag pipes!
😂
Newsom got 200,000 more votes in his Recall election than he got in 2018, when he ran for Governor.
...but then they’re not ‘generators’, just ‘energy storage’ devices. Just like cars, if you run out of gas you can bring more gas to the (stranded) vehicle. Unlike batteries, you have to either tow the vehicle to a charging station or bring some device (diesel generator!?) to the vehicle.
Gas is so energy dense and easy to store, unlike batteries, once dead you’re done.
This is a dumb policy. Their claims about a leaf blower vs. Camry miles is absurd if you’re talking about CO2, their main claim to ‘climate change’. They’d have to be referring to other gases.
Indeed
“I have trouble believing that a leaf blower running for an hour using maybe a pint of fuel, pollutes more than a Camry over 1100 miles which, at 35 miles per gallon, would burn 31 gallons of fuel.”
I think it is about right. The pollution from modern cars is about nil. I have read these stats before from non enviro groups-manufacturing trade co’s about how much small engines pollute.
A friend has gas powered model aircraft using chainsaw engines. He tunes them up in his garage and can only run them for a few minutes before he has to leave. I have helped guys tune modern Camaros on the laptop in garages and we were in there for several hours and can barely smell the exhaust.
I've been using electric mowers with cords since I was a kid in the early 70's . We had a mower with a handle that flipped over from rear to front. The cord was on the side of the power outlet & was always on the strip of lawn you just finished cutting. Very easy. Didn't have to store the gas in the garage or go to the gas station to fill up gas cans & lug them around.
When I first started mowing grass we had a gas powered, but since I used the electric, I've never bought another gas mower.
Having said that, I would not consider buying an electric vehicle.
And this will have zero effect on global climate change but it will have a tremendous effect for their advancement on their agenda.
Congratulations Colliefornia, if indeed you actually did vote to keep gov. Nuisance as dictator.
Out-of-state electricity generation companies should refuse to supply any electricity to California that has a fossil component. California should NOT be able to outsource its pollution to other states.
Small engines, like in lawnmowers for home use, cannot be compared to engines of motor vehicles used for transportation.
Most homeowners only use their mowers once a week, and perhaps every two weeks. In fall and winter, they’re not used as much. Whereas vehicles for transportation are used daily and perhaps for longer periods of time.
Apples and oranges. But, the climate change agenda has to take precedence, even if it won’t matter in the end.
Yes, you simply plug it into itself. Why didn’t I think of that?
So they’re thinking that replacing all of the gas powered small engines with battery powered ones that are now going to recharge on the the already overextended power grid is a good idea? At least we wont have to wonder what adding EVs will do to to the grid as this move will accelerate the failure. Lib solution will be to close more coal power plants and replace them with nothing.
Plug it in and it makes gas?
“but the battery equipment has made great strides in recent years.”
Maybe, but a Cub Cadet gas model is $2000 and the equivalent battery model is $4200.
I’ve replaced my Stihl edger with Makita (I already have Makita 18v stuff in the shop). And I have a Makita 36V chainsaw that is great, although I am keeping my Stihl for when I need to do a lot of work, since it would take a LOT of batteries to match the energy contained in a gallon of gas.
But the battery stuff is much easier on the ears and lungs; I can get going on the yardwork at sunup without bothering the neighbors. I’ll replace the string trimmer and blower when they die with Makita.
Feel for the commercial companies, though. And CARB is a major pain in the butt overall, obviously they should be disbanded and ruled unconstitutional, but that ain’t happening.
I think small off road engines will start getting more powerful, raising their output to above 25hp to avoid the regulation.
Worried about backup generator capability? The SORE umbrella does not include diesel. I would also expect that turbine-driven generators would not be included. How about propane- and natural-gas-fired equipment? Yes, not available at the local ACE hardware store, or at Home Depot/Lowes.
More interesting to me, though, is that the SORE umbrella would include portable chain saws for forestry use, especially given the neglect California gives to its woodland -- or are they forgetting the wildfires of 2021? To my knowledge, there are no battery-powered equivalents to this necessary tool for fighting fires.
I think it's clear that they are targetting lawn maintenance tools more than anything else, especially two-cycle engines.
We now have so many ‘Spare The Air’ days where you can’t burn that they don’t need to technically ‘ban’ them. Bastards.
Whatever. I have battery-operated lawn mower and blowers. Not because I’m an eco-tool but because I don’t like the smell of gas and battery versions seem quieter to me.
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