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: A8327A
SPONSOR: Englebright 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. Caps annual rebates at no more than $15,000 for an institutional
or commercial applicant and $300 for an individual applicant.
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: Establishes rebates for eligible lawn care devices on the
following schedule:
- edger, trimmer, hedge trimmers, chainsaw, or pole saw: up to 70% of
the purchase price, but no more than $200 per device.
- leaf blower or leaf vacuum: up to 70% of the purchase price, but no
more than $200 per device.
- walk-behind mower: up to 70% of the purchase price, but no more than
$500 per device.
- ride-on or stand-ride mower: up to 70% of the purchase price, but no
more than $5,000 per device.
- additional batteries and chargers for an eligible lawn care device: a
rebate of 100% of the purchase price for up to two batteries and one
charger per eligible lawn care device purchased. Subdivision B:
Requires NYSERDA to issue an annual report on the status of the program.
Section 2: Immediate effective date, deemed repealed January 1, 2030.
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 (CARB) 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 driving a car 1,100 miles, or from New York City to
Tampa, FL. According to CARB, early in this decade the total smog-form-
ing emissions from small off-road engines, the vast majority of which
are residential and commercial 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.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
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
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8327--A
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
October 20, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ENGLEBRIGHT, EPSTEIN, McDONALD, BURDICK, KELLES,
GOTTFRIED, O'DONNELL, BURGOS, FAHY, GRIFFIN, ZEBROWSKI, DARLING,
SIMON, THIELE, STECK, SEPTIMO, LUNSFORD, OTIS, GONZALEZ-ROJAS,
L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Corpo-
rations, Authorities and Commissions -- recommitted to the Committee
on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions in accordance with Assem-
bly 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 1884 to read as follows:
3 § 1884. 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.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13058-07-2
A. 8327--A 2
1 (c) "Individual applicant" shall mean a person, who is not an institu-
2 tional or commercial applicant, and who intends to use an eligible lawn
3 care device for private home use and not for any commercial purposes.
4 (d) "Eligible lawn care device" shall mean a battery-powered electric
5 lawn care device that is new, has not been used or previously owned, and
6 is purchased or leased from a storefront or online retailer. Eligible
7 lawn care device shall not include corded electric equipment, reel
8 mowers, or tractors used to pull other lawn care devices.
9 (e) "Lawn care device" shall mean any device powered mechanically,
10 which is intended to be used or is actually used for the mowing of
11 grass, the cutting or chipping of trees, tree roots or tree branches, or
12 the clearing of leaves or other vegetation from lawns, sidewalks, public
13 streets or public highways and shall include, but not be limited to,
14 such devices as lawn mowers and lawn mower attachments, lawn edgers and
15 trimmers, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers, leaf vacuums, mulchers, chip-
16 pers, chainsaws, and pole saws, as well as batteries and chargers for
17 such devices.
18 (f) "Local authority" shall have the same meaning as in subdivision
19 two of section two of this chapter.
20 (g) "State agency" shall mean all state departments, boards, commis-
21 sions, offices or institutions.
22 (h) "State authority" shall have the same meaning as in subdivision
23 one of section two of this chapter.
24 3. The authority shall award rebates at the point of sale for eligible
25 lawn care devices in amounts as determined by this section. An institu-
26 tional or commercial applicant shall receive no more than fifteen thou-
27 sand dollars in rebates through the electric landscaping equipment
28 rebate program per year. An individual applicant shall receive no more
29 than three hundred dollars in rebates through the electric landscaping
30 equipment rebate program per year.
31 4. The authority shall determine the rebate eligibility of each appli-
32 cant in accordance with the requirements of this section and rules
33 promulgated by the authority. The total amount of rebates allocated to
34 certified applicants in each fiscal year shall not exceed the amount of
35 funds available for the program in such fiscal year. Rebates shall be
36 allocated to applicants on a first-come, first-served basis, determined
37 by the date the application is received, until all appropriated funds
38 for the fiscal year are expended or the program ends, whichever comes
39 first. The authority shall have authority to reduce eligible lawn care
40 device rebate amounts from the amounts specified in subdivision seven of
41 this section. Such reduction shall occur only if the authority deter-
42 mines that funds would otherwise be exhausted prior to the end of a
43 fiscal year.
44 5. The authority shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement
45 and administer the provisions of this section no later than one year
46 after the effective date of this section, including rules and regu-
47 lations relating to the forms required to claim a rebate under this
48 section, the required documentation and basis for establishing eligibil-
49 ity for a rebate, procedures and guidelines for claiming a rebate, the
50 collection of economic impact data from applicants, and any other
51 requirements the authority deems necessary. The authority shall conduct
52 education and outreach, with informational materials made available in
53 at least English and the three most common non-English languages spoken
54 by individuals with limited-English proficiency in the state of New
55 York, based on United States census data, as necessary to inform poten-
A. 8327--A 3
1 tial applicants and manufacturers and retailers of eligible lawn care
2 devices about the electric landscaping equipment rebate program.
3 6. The authority shall determine and publish on its website on an
4 ongoing basis the amount of available funding for rebates remaining in
5 each fiscal year.
6 7. (a) The purchaser or lessee of an eligible lawn care device may be
7 eligible for the following rebates:
8 (i) an applicant who purchases or leases a new edger, lawn trimmer,
9 hedge trimmer, chainsaw, or pole saw may receive a rebate of up to
10 seventy percent of the purchase price, but no more than two hundred
11 dollars per device.
12 (ii) an applicant who purchases or leases a new leaf blower or leaf
13 vacuum may receive a rebate of up to seventy percent of the purchase
14 price, but no more than two hundred dollars per device.
15 (iii) an applicant who purchases or leases a new walk-behind mower may
16 receive a rebate of up to seventy percent of the purchase price, but no
17 more than five hundred dollars per device.
18 (iv) an applicant who purchases or leases a new ride-on or stand-ride
19 mower may receive a rebate of up to seventy percent of the purchase
20 price, but no more than five thousand dollars per device.
21 (v) an applicant who purchases or leases additional batteries and
22 chargers for an eligible lawn care device may receive a rebate of one
23 hundred percent of the purchase price for up to two batteries and one
24 charger per eligible lawn care device purchased.
25 (b) The calculation of the purchase price shall not include additional
26 costs such as taxes, fees, accessories, or delivery charges.
27 8. No later than two years after the effective date of this section,
28 and annually thereafter on the first of January, the authority shall
29 issue a report to the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of
30 the assembly, the chair of the senate committee on energy and telecommu-
31 nications and the chair of the assembly committee on energy detailing
32 the status of the electric landscaping equipment rebate program. Such
33 report shall include:
34 (a) the amount of funding dedicated by the authority for the program
35 in the preceding year;
36 (b) the amount of eligible purchases for which a rebate was awarded;
37 (c) the amount and geographic distribution of rebates; and
38 (d) any other information the authority deems necessary.
39 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire and be
40 deemed repealed January 1, 2030.
