In another move to transition away from fossil fuels, Irvine is banning the use of gas-powered lawn equipment, beginning next summer.
That includes gas-powered leaf blowers, lawnmowers, string trimmers, hedge trimmers, edgers and chainsaws.
Starting July 1, businesses working in Irvine that employ more than 50 people won’t be able to use gas-powered leaf blowers and lawnmowers while residents and all other businesses have until Jan. 1, 2025, to replace theirs.
The ban on using all other gas-powered equipment will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025, for businesses that employ more than 50 people, and July 1, 2026, for residents and all other businesses.
Any landscaping company working in Irvine — regardless of where that business is based — will be subject to these regulations, said city spokesperson Kristina Perrigoue.
While the state has already moved forward with phasing out gas-powered lawn equipment, the city’s ban expedites those efforts, said Joel Belding, deputy director of Irvine’s sustainability department. Under state law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, only the sale of new gas-powered lawn equipment is banned, not the use of existing equipment.
City leaders also voted last month to work with the South Coast Air Quality Management District to provide financial assistance to Irvine residents and Irvine-based landscaping businesses to purchase electric tools. The cost for electric leaf blowers is generally somewhere in the $1,500 to $3,000 range, up to three times the cost of a gas-powered one, Belding said.
South Coast AQMD has two general programs to help replace gas-powered residential lawn mowers and commercial lawn equipment: a rebate program that offers up to a $250 rebate for residents to purchase a cordless, electric lawn mower and a program for commercial landscapers and gardeners within its jurisdiction that covers up to 85% of the cost of commercial electric lawn equipment.
The Irvine-specific rebate program will essentially be…
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