Establishes the electric landscaping equipment rebate program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and reduce noise pollution by promoting the adoption of quieter, zero-emission landscaping equipment; provides for rebates at the point of sale for applicants purchasing or leasing certain equipment; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration thereof.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A5681A
SPONSOR: Otis 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 OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
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 PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Amends the Public Authorities Law by adding a new section
1885. 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 to institutional or commercial applicants.
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 Section 2: Immediate effective date, deemed repealed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, 2035.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
The bill is amended to add to the list of included electric equipment,
specifically to include equipment used to clear snow and ice.
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
CARE, 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 individuals,
commercial landscapers, and institutions to transition to electric lawn
care equipment, with lasting benefits for workers, communities, and our
shared environment.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
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, 2035.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5681--A
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 20, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. OTIS, THIELE, L. ROSENTHAL, SIMON, LUNSFORD,
SHIMSKY, SIMONE -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corpo-
rations, Authorities and Commissions -- recommitted to the Committee
on Ways and Means in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec. 2 --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
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
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public authorities law is amended by adding a new
2 section 1885 to read as follows:
3 § 1885. Electric landscaping equipment rebate program. 1. There is
4 hereby created within the authority an electric landscaping equipment
5 rebate program. The purpose of the program is to reduce greenhouse gas
6 emissions, improve air quality, and reduce noise pollution by promoting
7 the adoption of quieter, zero-emission landscaping equipment.
8 2. As used in this section:
9 (a) "Commercial landscaping business" shall mean a sole-proprietor-
10 ship, firm, limited liability company, partnership, corporation or other
11 business entity whose primary concern involves the care and maintenance
12 of yards, gardens, or other outdoor landscapes for clients, including,
13 but not limited to, lawn care, gardening, and the removal or pruning of
14 trees or shrubs.
15 (b) "Institutional or commercial applicant" shall mean a commercial
16 landscaping business, or a state agency, state authority, local authori-
17 ty, town, county, village, school district, private school, university,
18 not-for-profit corporation, or other nonprofit organization.
19 (c) "Eligible lawn care device" shall mean a battery-powered electric
20 lawn care device that is new, has not been used or previously owned, and
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04841-05-4
A. 5681--A 2
1 is purchased or leased from a storefront or online retailer. Eligible
2 lawn care device shall not include corded electric equipment, reel
3 mowers, or tractors used to pull other lawn care devices.
4 (d) "Lawn care device" shall mean any device powered mechanically,
5 which is intended to be used or is actually used for the mowing of
6 grass, the cutting or chipping of trees, tree roots or tree branches,
7 the clearing of snow and ice, the clearing of leaves or other vegetation
8 from lawns, sidewalks, public streets or public highways, and shall
9 include, but not be limited to, such devices as walking and riding lawn
10 mowers and lawn mower attachments, lawn edgers and trimmers, hedge trim-
11 mers, leaf blowers, leaf vacuums, mulchers, chippers, chainsaws, pole
12 saws, augers, cultivators and tillers, snow blowers, and snow shovels,
13 as well as batteries, chargers, and power management equipment for such
14 devices.
15 (e) "Local authority" shall have the same meaning as in subdivision
16 two of section two of this chapter.
17 (f) "State agency" shall mean all state departments, boards, commis-
18 sions, offices or institutions.
19 (g) "State authority" shall have the same meaning as in subdivision
20 one of section two of this chapter.
21 3. The authority shall create a program, within existing appropri-
22 ations, to award rebates at the point of sale to institutional or
23 commercial applicants for eligible lawn care devices in amounts deter-
24 mined by the authority.
25 4. The authority shall determine the rebate eligibility of each appli-
26 cant in accordance with the requirements of this section and rules
27 promulgated by the authority. The total amount of rebates allocated to
28 certified applicants in each fiscal year shall not exceed the amount of
29 funds available for the program in such fiscal year. Rebates shall be
30 allocated to applicants on a first-come, first-served basis, determined
31 by the date the application is received, until all appropriated funds
32 for the fiscal year are expended or the program ends, whichever comes
33 first. The authority shall have authority to reduce eligible lawn care
34 device rebate amounts if the authority determines that funds would
35 otherwise be exhausted prior to the end of a fiscal year.
36 5. The authority shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement
37 and administer the provisions of this section no later than two hundred
38 seventy days after the effective date of this section, including rules
39 and regulations relating to the types of equipment covered under this
40 section and rebate amounts for each equipment type, the forms required
41 to claim a rebate, the required documentation and basis for establishing
42 eligibility for a rebate, procedures and guidelines for claiming a
43 rebate, the collection of economic impact data from applicants, and any
44 other requirements the authority deems necessary. In the course of
45 developing such rules and regulations, the authority shall consult with
46 relevant stakeholders, including commercial landscaping businesses and
47 retailers selling eligible lawn care devices. The authority shall
48 conduct education and outreach, with informational materials made avail-
49 able in at least English and the three most common non-English languages
50 spoken by individuals with limited-English proficiency in the state of
51 New York, based on United States census data, as necessary to inform
52 potential applicants and manufacturers and retailers of eligible lawn
53 care devices about the electric landscaping equipment rebate program.
54 6. The authority shall determine and publish on its website on an
55 ongoing basis the amount of available funding for rebates remaining in
56 each fiscal year.
A. 5681--A 3
1 7. No later than two years after the effective date of this section,
2 and annually thereafter on the first of January, the authority shall
3 issue a report to the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of
4 the assembly, the chair of the senate committee on energy and telecommu-
5 nications and the chair of the assembly committee on energy detailing
6 the status of the electric landscaping equipment rebate program. Such
7 report shall include:
8 (a) the amount of funding dedicated by the authority for the program
9 in the preceding year;
10 (b) the amount of eligible purchases for which a rebate was awarded;
11 (c) the amount and geographic distribution of rebates; and
12 (d) any other information the authority deems necessary.
13 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
14 deemed repealed January 1, 2035.
