Dear Mayor Nash, Vice Mayor Wolosin and Council Members and the Sustainability Manager,
Happy New Year.
I am writing with an update on the progress made by CARB (California Air Resources Board) at their January 18, 2022, Work Group Meeting to implement their Fiscal 2021-22 CORE (Clean Off-Road Equipment) Voucher Incentive Project. This project provides the means to allocate funds set aside for landscapers by the state’s AB 1346 bill banning the sale of (SORE) Small Off-Road Engines in California as of January 2024 in conjunction with Small Business SB 170.
After many Menlo Park residents spoke in favor of a gas leaf blower ban and the EQC (Environmental Quality Committee) recommended the same. Then, on Nov 16, 2021, the city council requested city staff to prepare a report for a potential gas leaf blower ban. At that meeting the Sustainability Manage indicated this report would be available to the council in early 2022.
Summary: CARB’s work group meeting 1/18/2022 regarding to gas landscape equipment:
• CARB projects availability of vouchers will be available late summer 2022 or sooner.
• Vouchers will be available through manufacture’s dealerships.
• Program is for sole proprietor landscapers and small business landscape companies.
• As of today, the amount of the vouchers has not been set.
• Past CORE voucher programs were fully subscribed within six months, after which subscribers went on a waitlist.
As more and more California cities ban gas powered garden tools these state funds/vouchers will be quickly exhausted. Hence, I urge the council to vote on a gas leaf blower ban as soon as they have reviewed the staff report. Once the council is able to confirm that a ban has been passed, landscapers working in Menlo Park can be informed by local outreach and encouraged their homeowner employers to apply for this financial incentive before the funds are depleted.
Sincerely,
Lisa Williams
