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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/23/2016 - STAFF REPORTS - 1.B. tip AIM$A .y a u w h h • 'cWbvh� ,Aa Cg11ro % CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT DATE: June 23, 2016 STUDY SESSION SUBJECT: DISCUSS REGULATIONS RELATED TO LEAF BLOWERS FROM: David H. Ready, City Manager BY: Office of Sustainability, Michele Mician, Sustainability Manager SUMMARY: In 2012, members of the public, sustainability commissioners and city council members requested that the Office of Sustainability initiate a study on the use of leaf blowers and a review of regulations by various local agencies limiting their use. The Sustainability Commission assigned a subcommittee on the issue, and in coordination with staff, prepared a draft ordinance limiting leaf flower operation for discussion and public review. At that time, the draft regulations considered prohibiting the use and operation of gasoline leaf blowers in residential areas of the City; however, the draft regulations were not supported and approved by the Sustainability Commission. The purpose of this study session item is to reconsider initiating efforts to draft new regulations limiting the use of leaf blowers within the City. RECOMMENDATION: Provide direction to staff as appropriate. BACKGROUND: In 2012 the Office of Sustainability facilitated the formation of a leaf blower subcommittee of the Sustainability Commission as a response to a City Council request to investigate leaf blower regulations. The subcommittee met throughout the year to analyze the subject and review leaf blower ordinances enacted by cities throughout the country. Educational materials and a draft ordinance regulating leaf blower operation were prepared for presentation at a Sustainability Commission study session that was open to the public and held on February 27, 2013. A power point (included as Attachment 1) was presented that detailed the impacts of leaf blowers as well as the results of REM NO. City Council Staff Report June 23, 2016-- Page 2 Discussion on Leaf Blower Regulations research on other city's leaf blower ordinances. Over 100 people attended the meeting. The session was conducted in English and Spanish, and due to overwhelming opposition from commercial landscape maintenance businesses, the Sustainability Commission at that time did not take action to approve the draft ordinance and regulations limiting leaf blower operation. The Sustainability Commission requested that staff continue to increase education regarding the potential health issues associated with leaf blower operation, the use of proper safety gear when using leaf blowers, and promoting the use of alternative options to leaf blowers such as rakes and brooms. The Sustainability Commission also increased outreach encouraging use of electric rather than gasoline powered leaf blowers, and promoted the Air Quality Management District (AQMD) rebate programs. In furtherance of this direction, the City of Palm Springs has converted several gasoline powered landscape maintenance equipment to electrically powered. In 2015 the Sustainability Commission initiated a new review of regulations limited the use of leaf blowers. The Sustainability Commission assigned review of the issue to the Health and Wellness Subcommittee, and the Subcommittee researched the issue and surveyed the various City neighborhood organizations on their support for or opposition to implementing regulations on the use of leaf blowers. Discussion of leaf blower regulations was held at a ONE-PS meeting, however, at that time there was not definitive support from the various neighborhoods on implementing restrictions on leaf blower use. Proceeding with further review and consideration regulations limiting leaf blower use is pending direction at this Study Session. STAFF ANALYSIS: The purpose of this study session item is to discuss and consider regulations limiting the use and operation of gasoline leaf blowers in the City. There are various alternative approaches to implementing regulations limiting leaf blower use, including (but not limited to): 1 . Limiting the use of all leaf blowers (gasoline and electrically powered) within the City, or 2. Limiting the use of gasoline powered leaf blowers within the City, or 3. Limiting the use of gasoline powered leaf blowers within certain areas of the City (i.e. residential, school sites, public facilities, etc.), or 4. Implementing a phased approach over a certain period of time to eliminate the use of gasoline and/or electrically powered leaf blowers within the City. The Sustainability Commission has appointed a "Leaf Blower and Health and Wellness Subcommittee" to review the issue. A summary of research completed on the issue, and examples of regulations adopted by other cities, is included as Attachment 1. 02 City Council Staff Report June 23, 2016-- Page 3 Discussion on Leaf Blower Regulations The use of leaf blowers has been associated with potentially negative impacts associated with noise, air quality, and public health (particularly with those operating the leaf blowers). A 1999 California Air Resources Board report on Potential Health and Environmental Impacts of Leaf Blowers suggests that leaf blowers may be associated with potentially adverse effects, and the public perception of these adverse effects associated with leaf blower use has resulted in restrictions on their use in certain jurisdictions. The 1999 report is available at the following website: http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/leafblow/leafblow.htm The Sustainability Commission's Subcommittee's recommendation for a regulation limiting gasoline powered leaf blowers in residential areas is justified in part by the air quality impacts due to emissions caused by their use. A February 2000 report prepared by the California Environmental Protection Agency Air Resources Board estimated at that time that there were more than 400,000 gasoline-powered leaf blowers, plus approximately 600,000 electric leaf blowers, that were operating at an estimated 114,000 hours per day in California. The 2000 report is available at the following website: http://www.noiseoff.org/document/cepa.report.pdf The 2000 report provides an example of how to visualize the potential adverse effects of leaf blower operation by comparing their operation to miles traveled by car. The Air Resources Board calculated that hydrocarbon emissions from one-half hour of leaf blower operation equals about 7,700 miles of driving, at 30 miles per hour average speed. Leaf blowers may also create excessive and unusual amounts of noise, operating at anywhere from 70 to up to 90 decibels. Depending on the distance from a dwelling area the noise level may be considered a disturbance. The U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) requires a hearing protection program for employees when sound exposures equal or exceed an eight-hour, time- weighted average sound level of 85 decibels. Most of the newer leaf blower machines are rated at, or less than, 70 decibels at 50 feet at full throttle.' The Sustainability Commission Subcommittee conducted research and found evidence of various ordinances throughout the state of California. These ordinances varied in that some implemented limitations on gasoline powered leaf blowers in both residential and commercial areas, while others ordinances limited the use of gasoline powered leaf blowers in only residential areas. Several cities have implemented further restrictions and banned the use of all leaf blowers entirely (gasoline or electrically powered). California Landscape Contractors Association website: http://www.cica,org/leaf-blowers/index.php 03 City Council Staff Report June 23, 2016-- Page 4 Discussion on Leaf Blower Regulations After its review of the issue, the Sustainability Commission Subcommittee is recommending that the City consider implementing regulations that limit the use of gasoline powered leaf blowers within residential areas of the City. Proceeding with further review and consideration of regulations limiting the use of leaf blowers within the City will require additional coordination with the City's various neighborhood organizations via ONE-PS, as well as public outreach with the commercial landscape maintenance industry. FISCAL AND STAFF IMPACTS: Staff time and associated fiscal impacts are yet to be determined. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: Staff finds that discussion of leaf blower regulations is not a "project" under the California Environmental Quality Act, because the it does not involve any commitment to a specific project which may result in a potentially significant physical impact on the environment, as contemplated by Title 14, California Code of Regulations, Section 15378(b)(4). Therefore no negative environmental impact is noted and there is a negative declaration. SUBMITTED: ,,—&,' //' U wvl f/Lf�➢ Michele C. Mician, LEED GA Marcus Fuller, PE, PLS Sustainability Manager Assistant City Manager/City Engineer David H. Ready, Esq. City Manager Attachments: 1. Research Materials — Power Point 04 ATTACHMENT 1 05 ♦-+ Q ++ V 0 �. � ,�.. _�} *� ) f a ry. '.•e � IA �'&v=v Current Leaf Blower Bans — Laguna Beach Garden/debris blowers The use of electrical or gasoline powered blowers, such as commonly - • • gardeners and other persons for cleaning lawns, yards, driveways, gutters, and other property is prohibited at any c \ time within the city limits. tr \_ i Current e . BlowerB . Berkeley • 14. Notwithstanding Subsection 13. 11 of this section, it shall be unlawful for any person, including any City employee, to operate any portable machine powered with a gasoline engine used to blow leaves, dirt, and other debris off sidewalks, driveways, lawns or other surfaces within the City limits If Blower Use: Other ICI ❑ Indian Wells (1990): "Leaf blowers shall be prohibited in all zones within the City except: (i) individual property occupants may operate a single electrically powered leaf blower with use confined to his/her property; (ii) golf course operators may operate gasoline powered leaf blowers during the month of September 15t" through December 1 st of each year. ❑ Hermosa Beach: It is unlawful to use within the city limits or cause to be used electrical or gasoline powered backpack/leaf blower. Such as commonly used by gardeners, landscapers and other persons ❑ Beverly Hills (1976): It shall be unlawful for any person within the City to use or operate any portable machine powered with a gasoline engine used to blow leaves, dirt, and other debris off sidewalks, driveways, lawns, and other surfaces. 4 Other Cities • • ❑ West Hollywood (1986): The purpose of this Ordinance is to prohibit the use and operation of gasoline blowers in the City of West Hollywood. These devices, used to blow leaves, dirt and debris, create an excessive and unusual amount of noise, often operating at up to ninety decibels. The sustained operation of leaf blowers at this decibel level is literally deafening to persons who reside and work within earshot of many gardeners not only causes disturbance of those in the vicinity of users of leaf blowers but has the potential to cause hear damage. In additional, leaf blower tends to blow dirt, dust and other particulate matter in the air, thereby reducing the air quality in West Hollywood, aggravating persons with allergies and asthmatic conditions and depositing such debris on other public and private property. There are many alternate methods of methods disposing of leaves available to gardeners and property owners, including electrical blowers, rakes, brooms, vacuums and water. The use of gasoline powered blowers is hereby declared to constitute a public nuisance by virtue of the detrimental effect such blowers have on the community and residents of West Hollywood . 0 5 BlowerLeaf Ban in California Summary of California Cities that have Leafblower Ban Ordinances blowersBan Pr visions Ban on al Leaf Ban during Time (Gas & Electric) Percentage 11 % 47% 40% Source: 2011 Consumer Report, Based on 55 California cities Leaf blowers have an impact on Greenhouse Gas Emissions; currently contribute to emissions (statewide) in the following ways: Hydrocarbons (reactive): 4.2 tons per day Carbon Monoxide (CO): 9.8 tons per day Fine Particulate Matter: 0.02 tons per day (Source: California Environmental Protection Agency/Air Resources Board) What are the Alternatives ? t } m Rakes m Brooms i E r r Outdoor Vacuum m Electric powered Strategy: Leaf blower Alternatives and Impact ❑ Educate residents and contractors (and their workers) regarding the hazards and impact of leafblower utilization a. Impact on environment b. Impact on Leaf blower workers and compliance with OSHA requirements c. Impact on health and well being of the workers, residents and surrounding community d. Possibly create a "buy-back" or a "discount coupon" program to offer residents and others encouraging the trade in gasoline leaf blowers for a commercial grade push brooms and dust pans and electric powered leafblowers . W 8 I Elements I I blower Ordinance Propose ban on all gasoline powered leaf blowers; encourage the conversion to electric powered leaf blowers The Office of Sustainability and the Sustainability Commission would be responsible for education and increasing public awareness and educational outreach campaign of residents and businesses Investigate the feasibility of proposing and implementing a buy-back and/or discount coupon program to facilitate use of alternative method of debris clean up supported by the Sustainability funds. 4. Enforcement of the ordinance through infraction citation and subsequent fines for ordinance violations. Fines could vary from $25 to $250 per infraction . Develop a phase-in "roll-out" ban approach during a one year period . Phase 1 could restrict use of leaf blowers during specified hours of the day; Phase 2 to restrict specified days of the week and final Phase 3 complete ban . Terri Milton From: Jennifer Nelson Sent: Thursday,June 23, 2016 5:24 PM To: Kathie Hart; Cindy Berardi; Terri Milton Cc: Jay Thompson Subject: FW: Leaf blowers Additional materials if there is still time.. Jennifer Nelson Executive Assistant to Mayor and Council City of Palm Springs 3200 E.Tahquitz Canyon Way Palm Springs, CA 92262 760-323-8200 Jennifer.nelson@palmsprinesca.aov City Hall is open Monday-Thursday from 8am to 6pm Closed Fridays -----Original Message----- From: Darryl Ponicsan [mailto:darpon@mac.com] Sent:Thursday,June 23, 2016 4:16 PM To: Robert Moon; Ginny Foat;JR Roberts; Chris Mills; Geoff Kors Subject: Leaf blowers i look forward to taking my 3 minutes and speaking to you tonight. Time won't allow a description of today's encounter, so I will pass it on here. I went to the public library to read, around 12:45 p.m., but had to leave because of a loud and annoying leaf blower outside. On leaving, I had to put a hanky over my face so as not to breathe in the dust the blower was raising. I noticed a layer of dust on my car,thanks to the blower. Inside the car, I watched for a while. He did clear the sidewalks of dust and it looked like he would blow clean the parking lot, but what dust and debris did not land on the cars was going into the surrounding park or settling back on the ground or into the lungs of anyone nearby. My half hour at Palm Springs Public Library. Darryl Ponicsan Page 1 TO: CITY COUNCIL, PALM SPRINGS, JUNE 23, 2016 THE ARGUMENTS OPPOSING gas powered leaf blowers are numerous and based on scientific data. —We know that using a gas powered blower for one hour creates as many emissions as driving a Ford F-150 truck from Texas to Alaska. We know that because edmunds.com ran a scientific test. —We know that the fine particulates kicked up by blowers are responsible for 9,000 premature deaths in California, from heart and respiratory problems and cancer. We know that because of studies cited by the California Air Resources Board and the American Lung Association and by the Center for Disease Control, among others. —We know that the noise of gas blowers is unpredictable and obnoxious. We know that by living within a block of their use. —We know by close observation that blowers do not remove dust and debris, they just blow it somewhere else. —We know that where leaf blowers are banned landscapers do not go out of business. We know that because we can talk to the cities that have banned them. THE ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR of gas blowers are few and based on empty assumptions. —Yard work will cost more, they say, because the job will take longer. How much more? How much longer? No one knows because the assumption has not been tested. " —People will lose their jobs, they say. Why? The same work that needed to be done before will still need to be done. 'le-" 1 . 6- Page 2 WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF BANNING GAS BLOWERS? —An immediate and significant reduction in disease causing particulates. —An immediate and significant reduction in harmful greenhouse emissions. —A reduction in respiratory problems among vulnerable people AND their pets. —The elimination of raw gasoline fumes. —The protection of the operators from hearing loss and spinal problems due to carrying a heavy back pack all day. —The enjoyment of outdoor living and afternoon naps without being interrupted by blowers. —The opportunity for writers and artists to work at home without having their concentration shattered. WHAT WILL THESE BENEFITS COST? —Some landscapers may have to replace equipment, an investment that will be paid for eliminating the cost of gasoline, oil, and maintenance on blowers. —Clients might have to pay an additional 60 cents per visit, based on a reasonable calculation. If a yardman works one hour on one property and fifteen minutes of his time is used in blowing, and if you pay him $24 an hour, then the blowing part of the job costs $6. If it takes ten percent longer to do the job, the cost goes up by 60 cents. If the issue of leaf blowers is all about wanting cheap labor over public health and welfare, it begs the question: How cheap do you want to go? Page 3 (In fact, the Public Works Department of Los Angeles did put it to a test. A grandmother with a rake challenged a man with a gas blower. The gas blower won, by seconds, but the city determined the rake did a better job of actually removing debris.) Darryl Ponicsan 2982 Searchlight LN Palm Springs, CA 92264 206-650-0090 darpon@mac.com SILENT SPRING INSTITUTE RESEARCHING THE ENVIRONMENT AND WOMEN'S HEALTH 29 Crafts Sb ,Newton MA 02458 617 332 42M fax 617 332 42U email info@sila Ispring.org www.si%nlspring.org July 10, 2014 To whom it may concern, As scientists at Silent Spring Institute,we are writing to share our concerns about the health effects of gasoline powered leaf blowers and other gas-powered landscaping equipment. Our recently published review of likely breast carcinogens (available at http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/1307455 ) identified exposure to benzene, 1,3- butadiene, and many polyaromatic hydrocarbons as particularly high concerns based on their strength as genotoxic carcinogens and the potential for high exposure both from gasoline fumes and from the exhaust of gasoline powered devices such as leafblowers.The Institute of Medicine also recently identified benzene and butadiene as two of the environmental chemicals most likely to increase breast cancer risk(their report is available at http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2011/Breast-Cancer-and-the-Environment-A-Life-Course- Approach.aspx). In addition to possible links with breast cancer,these chemicals and others in gasoline fumes and exhaust have been linked to asthma and other respiratory problems as well as cancer at multiple sites. Sincerely, Julia Green Brody Executive Director,Silent Spring Institute Ruthann Rudel Research Director, Silent Spring Institute Janet Ackerman Staff Scientist, Silent Spring Institute �r Stony Brook ,a Office of the Chief Executive Officer Story Brook, NY 11794-8410 TEI..:631.4442701 I-Ax:631.444,8925 February 13, 2015 Lucy I. Weinstein, MD, MPH Chair, Committee on Environmental Health New York Chapter 2 Academy of Pediatrics Clinical Instructor Department of Preventive Medicine Stony Brook University Stony Brook, New York 17794-8046 Dear Dr. Weinstein, We at Stony Brook University Hospital recognize the health and environmental risks of gasoline leaf blowers, and have taken steps to limit their use. We've asked our ground crew to limit gas blower use to the fall and spring,and battery powered devices are currently being tested that perform better than the gas models. This may negate the need for gas models completely. Sincerely, v Reuven Pasternak, MD Chief Executive Officer SCIENTIFIC AMERICANTM Permanent Address: http://www.scientificamerican.com/arfcle/how-to-protect-your- hearing/ More Science » Scientific American Volume 313, Issue 2 August 2015 How to Protect Your Hearing By M. Charles Liberman THIS IS A PREVIEW. Buy this digital issue or subscribe to access the full article. Already a subscriber or purchased this issue?Sign In In animal studies in several different species,we have produced irreversible nerve damage in the ear with two hours of continuous exposure to noise at ioo to io4 decibels(dB).There is every reason to believe that human ears are just as sensitive. Most daily exposures in our lives do not continue for that long. Nevertheless,it is prudent to avoid unprotected exposure to any sounds in excess of ioo dB. Many sounds in daily life take us into a danger zone. Concert venues and clubs routinely produce peak levels of 115 dB and average levels in excess of 105 dB. Gas wered leaf blowers and lawn mowers reach levels at the users'ears between 95 and 1o5 dB,as do power tools such as circular saws.Frequency of the sounds matters.The more high-pitched whine of a belt sander is more dangerous at the same decibel level than the lower-pitched roar of an undermuffled motorcycle. Jackhammers produce levels of 12o dB even for passersby, and the rapid-fire impulses of the metal rod on concrete produce lots of the dangerous high-pitched sounds.