Cardenas Pushes Measure to Lift Leaf-Blower Ban

Flanked by about 50 gardeners, Assemblyman Tony Cardenas (D-Sylmar) trumpeted a bill Monday that would roll back Los Angeles’ ban on gas-powered leaf blowers.

At a news conference at Brand Park in Mission Hills, Cardenas hailed his legislation as a measure that would protect the right of common people to earn a living for their families.

The Assembly, he said, is scheduled to vote on the bill either today or Wednesday.

Currently, 13 cities statewide, including Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Malibu and West Hollywood, have banned the use of gas-powered blowers within 500 feet of homes. The ban was passed in Los Angeles in January 1998.

Cardenas’ bill seeks to trump the bans, replacing them with restrictions on noise levels and a daily time limit on their use.

The bill limits sound to 65 decibels, a provision that would require most gardeners to replace existing gas-powered blowers, which produce about 69 decibels, he said.

Gardeners would be allowed to use the blowers during normal business hours only, Cardenas said.

Afrack Vargas, a Cardenas aide, said most of the cities with leaf-blower bans allow electric-powered sweepers. But they are more expensive, less powerful and heavier, he said, and they use battery cells that last only about 45 minutes before needing to be recharged.

Salvador Munoz, a gardener for more than 20 years, said he felt the new generation of blowers is “far less noisy” and he hoped state politicians would take heed.

“To me, the new ones are so much better,” Munoz said. “I hope that the bill passes, because the blower is one of the most important tools I have to do my job.” The ban forces him to use a brush broom, which is far more taxing to use and costs valuable time. “Time is money,” he said, “which we don’t make a lot of anyway.”

Last year, a bill with identical language, sponsored by Sen. Richard Polanco (D--Los Angeles), failed to make it through the Assembly during the amendment process, Vargas said.

It was in support of last year’s bill that nearly 100 members of the Assn. of Latin American Gardeners of Los Angeles drove in a caravan to rally at the state capital. On the return trip, one of the group’s leaders, Salvador Hernandez, was killed when his truck overturned. Cardenas has named the bill after him.