Gas-Powered Lawn Equipment Soon To Be Illegal In California

Recently, states such as New York and California have been announcing plans to ban the sale of any new gas-powered vehicles. Lawn equipment will soon be included in that ban for California residents.

In an effort to curb emissions and reduce pollution, new gas-powered leaf blowers and lawn mowers will no longer be sold in the state starting January 1, 2024. California Governor, Gavin Newsom, signed a law which orders regulators to ban the sale of new gas-powered equipment that use small off-road engines. This includes but is not limited to generators, lawn equipment and pressure washers. The new law does require companies to offer rebates for people and companies to swap out their equipment.

It was already in discussion amongst The California Air Resources Board but Newsom’s law sealed the deal and sped up the process. Newsom is no stranger to banning laws. It was his legislation that ordered regulators to ban the sale of all new gas-powered vehicles in California by 2035.

Currently, California has more than 16.7 million machines using small engines. Officials have made the claim that running a gas-powered leaf blower (or equivalent) for just one hour emits the same amount of pollution as driving a new model Toyota Camry approximately 1,100 miles.