Would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024, on city property and Jan. 1, 2026, on private property

The City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors has proposed amending the Administrative and Police code that would prohibit the use of gasoline powered equipment 25hp and under beginning Jan. 1, 2024, on city property and Jan. 1, 2026, on private property.

The ban expands upon the rules recently issued by the California Air Resource Board (CARB) that bans the manufacture and sale of that equipment beginning Jan. 1, 2024, in California.  The (CARB) ruling still allows use of products purchased before that date as well as the purchase of used equipment and the continuing repair of that equipment. 

The GCSA of Northern California along with the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance have been spearheading efforts in opposition to the ordinance.  We have numerous concerns on certain pieces of equipment for which there are no or extremely limited zero emissions alternatives.  Walking aerators (ex. Toro ProCore 648 – no alternatives to our knowledge), bunker rakes, walk behind mowers, hover mowers and numerous spray units will create hardships for large landscape users, including golf facilities.

Other Issues include:

• The power is just not comparable yet
• Difficult to use exclusively on large scale commercial and governmental jobs like parks, golf courses, HOAs, resorts, business parks and other public and commercial green spaces
• Requires too many batteries to conduct their job function in an efficient manner
• Charging issues in the field and in the workshop
• Durability concerns
• Batteries are too heavy
• Cannot mow slopes on riding mowers because of the weight issue of currently available mowers makes them unstable.
• Mow times are longer, and batteries cannot last a full workday
• Leaf removal during seasonal changes is difficult
• Debris removal to mitigate fire spread is significantly more difficult
• Lack of dealers and maintenance shops to support transition
• Batteries are not interchangeable between brands

While we share the City and County of San Francisco’s ultimate goal to reduce emissions, but it needs to be done in a practical and responsible manner while mitigating financial and safety concerns. It is not a one size fits all approach when it comes to zero emission equipment.  The technology and ability to mass produce and deliver this equipment and completely replace gasoline-powered equipment 25 hp and under by Jan. 1, 2024, on city owned property and Jan. 1, 2026, on all property is not feasible for commercial and governmental department end users. 

GCSANC, GCSAA and the San Francisco Public Golf Alliance will continue to oppose the bill and work with the Board of Supervisors to come up with a better timeline for implementation of these zero emission pieces of equipment.