The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors is set to consider a second reading of a county ban on gas-powered leaf blowers at its meeting Aug. 13. (Marcello Hutchinson-Trujillo — Santa Cruz Local file)
Meeting: 9 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 13
- Attend at 701 Ocean St., Room 525, Santa Cruz.
- Join on Zoom or call 669-900-6833, meeting ID 817 3220 2363. The meeting will also be streamed on Facebook.
- To comment ahead of the meeting, email [email protected] by 5 p.m. Monday.
SANTA CRUZ >> A county ban on gas-powered leaf blowers would establish fines for property owners and could leave residents ineligible for rebates on electric leaf blowers.
In June, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors advanced a ban on gas-powered leaf blowers in unincorporated areas of the county. Supervisors on Aug. 13 are set to consider a final version of the law. The ban would begin in September, but wouldn’t be enforced until July 31, 2025. The county and other public agencies would be exempt from the ban.
The county ban aims to reduce the air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from leaf blowers. Once enforcement begins, property owners where gas blowers are used would face a $100 fine for a first offense, $200 for a second and $500 for a third. Fines would land solely on property owners, even if they hire an outside landscaping company to do the work.
The Monterey Bay Air Resources District offers rebates for electric landscaping equipment to businesses and residents in Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito counties. But the air resources district doesn’t extend the program to residents of areas with gas-blower bans. Once the ban starts, most residents in the unincorporated county would be ineligible for rebates.
Business owners would still be eligible for the rebates. They must be pre-approved by the air resources district and buy the electric blowers at full price before receiving the rebate. County staff are searching for grants that could allow local nonprofits like the Community Action Board to buy the new equipment upfront and sell to landscapers at a discounted rate.
County staff cautioned in a report that by starting the new rules in September, “there could be challenges” to an equitable outreach program and “negative impacts to private citizens.”
As of January, California bans the sale of all new gas-powered landscaping equipment, including leaf blowers and lawn mowers. State lawmakers approved the ban in 2021.
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Jesse Kathan is a staff reporter for Santa Cruz Local through the California Local News Fellowship. They hold a master's degree in science communications from UC Santa Cruz.
