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Nov 03, 2021
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IT’S TIME TO ELIMINATE GAS-POWERED LEAF BLOWERS FROM MENLO PARK

November 3, 2021


IT’S TIME TO ELIMINATE GAS-POWERED LEAF BLOWERS FROM MENLO PARK


Honorable Mayor Combs and Vice Mayor Nash:


The time has come to eliminate gas-powered leaf blowers from Menlo Park. They violate public safety, and viable alternatives are readily available.


* The noise from one blower can be heard for blocks, affecting as many as 100 households.

* The noise disturbs the peace, causes stress and inability to concentrate for those within earshot.

* “I’m happy to see them banned,” said Al Mendall, a member of the Hayward Planning Commission, which voted 4-3 recently to outlaw their use in residential areas. “They’re incredibly loud and obnoxious."

* Mendall called the devices a “convenience for one person that inconveniences 100 others — that’s not a good trade-off.”

* Our local Assemblyman Marc Berman states that pollution from Small Off-Road Engines (SORE)--which includes gas leaf blowers--will exceed that from all passenger cars in California this year.

* Berman sponsored AB 1346, which will ban the sale of gas blowers in 2024. The bill was signed by Governor Newsom on October 9. From the text of that bill:

* Small off-road engines (SORE), which are used primarily in lawn and garden equipment, emit high levels of air pollutants, including oxides of nitrogen (NOx), reactive organic gases (ROG), and particulate matter (PM). NOx and ROG together contribute to formation of ozone, a criteria pollutant with a national ambient air quality standard set by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) and a California ambient air quality standard and that has adverse impacts on health. Currently, California exceeds U.S. EPA and state standards for ozone in many areas, including the South Coast Air Basin, the San Francisco Bay area, and the County of Sacramento. NOx also contributes to formation of PM, which, along with directly emitted PM, has direct negative health impacts. PM also has an air quality standard set by the U.S. EPA and the state.

* In 2020, California daily NOx and ROG emissions from SORE were higher than emissions from light-duty passenger cars. SORE emitted an average of 16.8 tons per day of NOx and 125 tons per day of ROG. Without further regulatory action, those emission levels are expected to increase with increasing numbers of SORE in California. Regulations of emissions from SORE have not been as stringent as regulations of other engines, and one hour of operation of a commercial leaf blower can emit as much ROG plus NOx as driving 1,100 miles in a new passenger vehicle.

* Other cities in the Bay Area have gas blower bans and are doing fine. These include Berkeley, Belvedere, Mill Valley, Sonoma, Los Gatos and Los Altos.

* In Oakland, a six-month gasoline leaf blower grace period has expired, making the city’s new ban in full effect. Gas blower users can now be fined $100 a pop.

* A local gardeners association supports the ban. From the Redwood City Pulse, October 15, 2021: (https://www.rwcpulse.com/redwood-city-news/longtime-north-fair-oaks-resident-and-gardener-endorses-new-ban-on-gas-powered-leaf-blowers-4516711)

* Juan Carlos Prado, president of BAGA, the Bay Area Gardeners Association, supports AB 1346. The association, a nonprofit with 300 members, has reversed course after decades of opposition, and now supports a ban on gas blowers.

* “We feel as an association that there is a feasible and practical solution to eliminating gasoline leaf blowers,” said Prado, current board president of BAGA. Battery-powered blowers are now powerful enough.

* It’s a matter of public health. And residents are not the only ones who suffer. The operators have even greater exposure to the pollution and noise. A ban protects everybody.

* A city-wide ban is needed to level the playing field. As long as gas blowers are perceived to be the most time efficient means, companies with gas blowers can undercut those using electric blowers and hand tools.

* Electric blowers are far cheaper to operate than gas blowers.

* Menlo Park’s own Environmental Quality Commission, composed of citizens appointed by the City Council itself, unanimously recommended that city staff study the issue.


AB 1346 is a great stride in the right direction, but has shortcomings

* The ban on sale of gas blowers doesn’t take effect until 2024. That’s two years away, and allows two more years of SORE emissions and damaging noise.

* The ban does not extend to existing equipment, nor to equipment bought in a neighboring state (e.g. Nevada). This loophole will allow gas blowers for decades to come.


Menlo Park, under your leadership, is committed to fairness and equity. It is profoundly unfair to allow a gas blower at one household to negatively impact 100 households, day in and day out, week in and week out, year in and year out.

PLEASE PLACE THIS ISSUE ON THE COUNCIL AGENDA WITHOUT DELAY. You have the unanimous recommendation of your own citizen’s committee. Agendizing the item is the only way to move forward.

For our collective sanity, please join the many other cities in the Bay Area and enact a ban on gas blowers.

Sincerely,

Jeffrey Hook

Sharon Heights