CITY OF SEATTLE
RESOLUTION __________________
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A RESOLUTION declaring the City Council's intent to phase out gas-powered leaf blowers; establishing goals and identifying actions to meet these goals.
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WHEREAS, The City of Seattle ("City") has the authority to adopt policies to protect and promote public health, safety, and welfare; and
WHEREAS, in 2021, the City Council ("Council") adopted Statement of Legislative Intent OSE-003-B-001 requesting that City departments develop a plan to phase out the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in Seattle within two years and submit this plan to the Council by September 2, 2022; and
WHEREAS, the Council is seeking to reinforce and elevate this request through this resolution by establishing goals and articulating specific actions the City should take to gradually phase out the use of gas-powered leaf blowers; and
WHEREAS, in 2014, the City's Department of Planning and Development (now the Seattle Department of Construction and Inspections) considered strategies to reduce or eliminate the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in their response to Statement of Legislative Intent SLI 70-1-A-1 and recommended no new regulations or changes to City practices due to the lack of equivalent electric alternatives and other considerations at that time; and
WHEREAS, since then, new data have revealed more of the environmental and public health impacts of gas-powered leaf blowers; electric leaf blowers technology has improved; and other jurisdictions have moved to eliminate the use of gas-powered leaf blowers; and
WHEREAS, gas-powered leaf blowers most commonly have two-stroke internal combustion engines that incompletely combust their fuel, resulting in the emission of toxic and carcinogenic substances, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic compounds, which contribute to the formation of ozone, smog, and acid rain; and
WHEREAS, best available data indicate that the use of gas-powered leaf blowers can cause dire...
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