BILL NUMBER: S1574 Revised 1/27/2025
SPONSOR: KRUEGER
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public authorities law, in relation to establishing
the electric landscaping equipment rebate program; and providing for the
repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof
 
PURPOSE:
The purpose of the bill is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve
air quality, and reduce noise pollution by promoting the adoption of
electric landscaping equipment.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends the Public Authorities Law by adding a new section
1884. Subdivision 1: Creates the Electric Landscaping Equipment Rebate
Program within the New York State Research and Development Authority
(NYSERDA).
Subdivision 2: Definitions
Subdivision 3: Requires the creation of a rebate program at the point of
sale. NYSERDA will have the authority to set the total rebate amount.
Subdivision 4: Authorizes NYSERDA to determine rebate eligibility, allo-
cate rebates on a first-come first-served basis, and to reduce rebate
amounts if it is determined that funds would otherwise be exhausted
prior to the end of a fiscal year.
Subdivision 5: Requires NYSERDA to promulgate rules and regulations and
conduct education and outreach in multiple languages.
Subdivision 6: Requires NYSERDA to publish on its website on an ongoing
basis the amount of available funding remaining.
Subdivision 7: Requires NYSERDA to issue an annual report on the status
of the program.
Section 2: Immediate effective date, deemed repealed January 1, 2036.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Gas-powered lawn care equipment, such as leaf blowers, weed whackers,
and lawn mowers, have a significant negative impact on workers, communi-
ties, and the environment. Electric equipment, on the other hand, is
lighter, quieter, has lower maintenance costs, a significantly smaller
environmental footprint, and is better for workers' health.
This bill will encourage the adoption of electric lawn-care equipment
through point-of-sale rebates.
Gas-powered lawn care equipment has a large environmental footprint,
emitting large amounts of greenhouse gases and harmful, smog-forming
pollution. According to NYSDEC, gas-powered lawn care equipment emits
hydrocarbons, oxides of nitrogen (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), and fine
particulate matter (PM). The California Air Resources Board (CARE) has
reported that operating a gas-powered lawn mower for one hour creates as
much smog-forming pollution as driving an average car 300 miles, the
distance from New York City to Portland, ME. Operating a gas-powered
leaf blower for one hour creates as much smog-forming pollution as driv-
ing a car 1,100 miles, or from New York City to Tampa, FL. According to
CARS, early in this decade the total smog-forming emissions from small
off-road engines, the vast majority of which are residential and commer-
cial lawn and garden equipment, will exceed those from passenger cars in
the Greater Los Angeles Area.
Noise is also a significant negative impact from gas-powered lawn care
equipment. According to a 2018 report in the Journal of Environmental
and Toxicological Studies, sound levels at distances of 100 to 400 feet
were up to 22 decibels louder for gas-powered leaf blowers than their
battery-electric equivalents (the decibel scale is logarithmic, so each
increase of 10 represents a noise ten times louder).
The report goes on to say, "the measured GLB (gas-powered leaf blower)
sound spectrum had a markedly greater low frequency component compared
with the BLB (battery-electric leaf blower) sound spectrum, allowing it
to transmit and remain audible over longer distances and have greater
adverse impact on the surrounding community. Further, the low frequency
component of GLBs enabled their sound to transmit more readily through
windows and glass doors of homes. Application of a measure of loudness
as perceived by the human ear suggests that GLBs can often be heard up
to several times louder than BLBs in outdoor and indoor settings. In
actual settings, the routine use of multiple GLBs and other noisy equip-
ment for hours a day exposes not only workers but large numbers of
people in the community to harmful levels of noise and threatens not
only worker health, but public health, particularly of children,
seniors, and other vulnerable populations."
NYSDEC has found that a gas-powered leaf blower rated at 70 dB at 50
feet may reach noise levels over 105 dB at the operator's ears, which is
a noise level equivalent to a table saw. The Journal of Environmental
and Toxicological Studies report found that in 2018, 170 communities in
the US had enacted restrictions on the use of gas-powered leaf blowers.
Nearly two dozen cities, towns, and villages in New York State have bans
on gas-powered leaf blowers during certain times of year.
The rebate program created by this bill, based on numerous successful
local programs in place in California, will incentivize commercial
landscapers, and institutions to transition to electric lawn care equip-
ment, with lasting benefits for workers, communities, and our shared
environment.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24:S.5853/A.5681: Passed Senate
2021-22:S.7453/A.8327: Veto 184
 
FISCAL IMPACT ON THE STATE:
Program funding would be provided through existing NYSERDA funding
streams.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be deemed
repealed on January 1, 2036.