Palo Alto Denies Request to Reverse Ban on Gas-Powered Blowers

The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute says Palo Alto, Calif., officials denied a request in writing to overturn a ban on gasoline-powered leaf blowers.
 
OPEI sent the letter to the mayor, Judy Kleinberg. The letters follow legal papers filed by OPEI and the Bay Area Gardeners Association (BAGA) claiming that the ban is illegal under the Federal Clean Air Act because it attempts to regulate "mobile source" emissions. Under the California Tort Claims Act, BAGA and OPEI have also filed notices with the city that they intend to pursue litigation.

BAGA claims that Palo Alto duped local gardeners into purchasing nearly $4 million of new gas leaf blowers with the agreement that they would be the quietest and cleanest models available. The gardeners participated in training programs and obtained operator certifications per the direction of city officials. Despite this agreement, city council then voted to prohibit the use of gas powered leaf blowers.

Both BAGA and OPEI says repeated offers by manufacturers to demonstrate equipment before the city council have been ignored.

"Manufacturers should be rewarded, not penalized or ignored when they deliver new cleaner and quieter products in direct response to a request from a state or local government," states Fred J. Whyte, president, STIHL Inc. in his letter. "By banning the use of the clean and quiet blowers, Palo Alto will unintentionally send a message to manufacturers that investing in clean and quieter products - products that far exceed applicable regulatory requirements - may be to no avail because even these clean products will still be indiscriminately banned. Second, Palo Alto will send a message that it does not live up to its word," continues Whyte in his letter.

In their letter, Shindaiwa's director of product management, John Foster states, "Shindaiwa's decision to dedicate substantial resources to this major project was based on the understanding that the City of Palo Alto would not ban gasoline powered leaf blowers if manufacturers developed and delivered quieter and lower exhaust emission leaf blowers ... Shindaiwa has delivered everything that the City of Palo Alto has asked of us and more, and now we request that you extend us the courtesy of evaluating our progress. The indiscriminate banning by Palo Alto of the cleanest and quietest leaf blowers ever produced will discourage manufacturers from continuing with advances made in developing lower noise technologies."

The OPEI letter documents that Palo Alto made its decision to ban gasoline powered leaf blowers on inaccurate information and does not appreciate the technological advances made by the industry. "OPEI again requests that Palo Alto put this matter on a City Council agenda in conjunction with a blower technology demonstration so that the City Council members can discuss these materials and make important decisions on the most accurate information," states William M. Guerry, Jr., attorney for BAGA and OPEI.