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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-03-19 City Council (14)TO: City of Palo Alto City Manager’s Report HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL FROM: DATE: CITY MANAGER MARCH 19, 2001 DEPARTMENT: POLICE CMR:174:01 SUBJECT: TWELVE-MONTH LEAF BLOWER STATUS REPORT This is an informational report and no Council action is required. BACKGROUND On January 31, 2000, the City Council adopted a revision to the leaf blower ordinance. After several modifications, the Council approved the second reading of the ordinance on May 1, 2000. At that time, Council directed staff to return every six months with a status report on the progress of enforcement efforts. A portion of the ordinance requiring the use of only City-approved leaf blowers, and requiting that all commercial operators be trained and certified by the City, became effective on January 1, 2001. This report provides an update on the training and certification process and on enforcementefforts that will be made to ensure compliance with this portion of the ordinance. DISCUSSION Training and Certification of Commercial Users - Under the requirements of the portion of the ordinance which became effective on January 1, 2001, all commercial users of leaf blowers must be trained and certified in their appropriate use and in the requirements of Palo Alto’s ordinance. Working closely with representatives of the Bay Area .Gardeners’ Association (BAGA), staff developed a training, testing and certification program that has been administered by Police Department staff. The program includes a 20-minute training video on the appropriate use of leaf blowers; instruction on Palo Alto’s leaf blower ordinance; and a multiple-choice test that evaluates knowledge of the ordinance and of leaf blower usage. The test, video and ordinance have been provided in Spanish and in Japanese to those gardeners who do not speak English. To date, eleven training/testing sessions have been held. Approximately 1,200 gardeners have been trained and just over 900 have been CMR:174:01 Page 1 of 3 certified. Staff will continue to present training sessions on request, as BAGA identifies gardeners who have not yet been certified. (Under an agreement with BAGA, those people who do not pass the test must retake and successfully pass it prior to receiving their certification.) All City crews and employees of City contractors who operate leaf blowers have also been trained and certified. Permitted Blower Use - Effective January 1, 2001, use of a leaf blower that does not bear a manufacturer’s label indicating the model number of the leaf blower and designating a noise level not in excess of 65 dBA will be prohibited. Staff has obtained letters of certification from leaf blower manufacturers indicating their model numbers and noise emissions as measured using the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) standards. A list of approved leaf blowers has been developed and distributed to gardeners and residents, and will continue to be Updated as additional models are developed which meet the City’s criteria. A letter outlining the impacts of the leaf blower ordinance, along with a list of approved leaf blowers, was distributed to all of the City’s neighborhood associations in December 2000. The list was also. incorporated in a press release published in local newspapers in December, is available on the City’s website, and is included as Attachment 1 to this report. Enforcement - Although proTisions of the leaf blower ordinance became effective on January 1, 2001, the Police Department has not yet begun active enforcement of the ordinance due to the large numbers of gardeners still in the certification process. As previously agreed, enforcement will not involve using noise meters to determine noise levels of blowers, but will be based upon manufacturers’ labels and model numbers; location of use of combustible engine blowers; and time and day of use. It is anticipated that active enforcement will begin on April 1,2001. RESOURCE IMPACT Funds to cover the costs associated with a temporary Community Service Officer in the Police Department to assist in the proactive enforcement are included in the FY 2000-01 budget. POLICY IMPLICATIONS This program is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan’s policy to evaluate changes to the noise ordinance to reduce the impact of leaf blower noise (N16). CMR:174:01 Page 2 of 3 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT This project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). ATTACHMENTS List of Leaf Blowers Approved for Use PREPARED BY: L~ Police Administrator Chief of Police CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:~, ~ EMILY ~S~-"~ Assistant City Manager CMR:174:01 Page 3 of 3 LIST OF APPROVED BLOWERS Black and Decker BV2500 (blower / vacuum) Solo Model 470 Air Blower Craftsman Model 71796901 Echo PB 46LN Echo PB 461LN Echo PB 261L Echo PB 231 LN Stihl BGE 60 (electric) Stihl BG 45 Maruyama or Toro BP 6900 "