Clean air board votes tomorrow on stopping the sale of the dirtiest gas-powered lawn tools in Denver region by 2025

Update: The RAQC voted on July 7 to approve the proposed policies.

As Colorado approaches the heart of ozone air pollution season, the Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) board is expected to vote tomorrow on policies that will clean up our air and protect public health by accelerating the shift away from certain gas-powered lawn and garden machinery in the Denver Metro/North Front Range region in favor of cleaner electric equipment. The region has been out of compliance with air quality standards for years, and was downgraded in 2022 from “serious” to “severe” violator status. 

The measures under consideration include a 2025 prohibition on the sale of new gas-powered push lawn mowers and handheld landscaping tools such as leaf blowers and trimmers, and seasonal use restrictions on this same type of equipment for public entities and commercial operators that kick in in 2025 and 2026 respectively.

Smaller gas-powered lawn and garden tools lack basic emissions controls and are extremely polluting. Operating a commercial leaf blower for just one hour can result in as much ozone-forming emissions as driving a car 1,100 miles – approximately the distance between Denver and Calgary, Canada. 

A 2022 CoPIRG Foundation report showed that fully shifting the lawn and garden sector in the region away from gas-powered equipment could achieve nearly 20% of the cuts needed to bring ozone concentrations down below federal health-based air quality limits. Breathing ozone can cause harmful health effects including lung damage, worsening of existing respiratory conditions such as asthma and cardiovascular disease. 

For general information on air quality challenges in Colorado and the harmful health effects of ozone, visit www.CleanAirColorado.org.