UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION IX AIR DIVISION

Technical Support Document

for
EPA ’ s Rulemaking
for the
Arizona State Implementation Plan

Arizona Statute 49

- 457.01: Leaf Blower Use Restrictions and Training; Leaf Blower Equipment Sellers; Informational Material; Applicability

Arizona Statute 11

- 877: Air Quality Control Measures

Prepared by: Robert Marinaro

March 20 , 2013 2



RULE IDENTIFICATION

Agency: State of Arizona for Maricopa County

Submitted Rule : Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) 11

- 877: Air Quality Control Measures. Subsection s A 1

- 3 & B. Adopted : July 2, 2007 Submitted : May 25, 2012 Determined Complete : July 20 , 2012

ARS 49

- 457.01: Leaf Blower Use Restrictions and Training; Leaf Blower Equipment Sellers; Informational Material; Applicability. Subsections A

- G. Adopted : July 2, 2007
Submitted : May 25, 2012 Determined Complete : July 20 , 2012

Previous Submittal : Arizona Revised Statute (ARS) 11

- 877: Air Quality Control Measures. Subsections A 1

- 3 & B. Adopted : July 2, 2007 Submitted : December 21, 2007 Withdrawn: January 25 , 201 1

ARS 49

- 457.01: Leaf Blower Use Restrictions and Training; Leaf Blower Equipment Sellers; Informational Material; Applicability. Subsections A

- G. Adopted : July 2, 2007 Submitted : December 21, 2007 Withdrawn: January 25 , 201 1

BACKGROUND

Maricopa County is classified as a se rious nonattainment area for PM 10 . As required by section 189 of the Clean Air Act (CAA), Arizona submitted a PM 10 plan that included the most stringent measures (MSM) a nd an extension request for attainment no later than December 31, 2006. On January 14, 2002, EPA announced the approva l of the serious area plan, including the Agricultural Best Management Practices (AgBMP) Program as meeting both Best Available Control Measures (BACM) and MSM requirements, and also granted a five year extension of the attainment date for both the 24

- hour and annual PM 10 standards from December 31, 2001 to December 31, 2006. Both decisions were published in the Federal Register on July 25, 2002 (67 FR 48718).

The area did not attain by December 2006 , however, triggering the requirement under Section 189(d) of the CAA that a SIP revision providing for annual reductions of PM 10 or PM 10 precursors of not less than 5% of the most recent emissions inventory, until the standard is attained, be submitted to EPA by December 31, 2007.

The Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG) prepared the 2007 Five Percent Plan
for PM 10 which was approved by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) and submitted to the EPA on December 21, 2007. The SIP cont ained rule revisions in Maricopa County and Pinal County to further reduce PM 10 emissions. 3



Arizona Senate Bill 1552 (2007) addressed the authority to revise rules while adding requirements for both Maricopa County and one township in Pinal County. Cities and towns in the nonattainment area committed to develop and enforce local ordinances to
address PM 10 emissions from vacant lots, unpaved roads and shoulders, off

- highway vehicles, and leaf blowers. EPA proposed a limited approval and limited disapproval of the Five Percent Plan on September 9, 2010 (75 FR 54806).

After ADEQ withdrew the plan on January 25, 2011, EPA issued a Finding of Failure to Submit the Five Percent Plan on February 14, 2011 (76 FR 8300), triggering an 18

- month
sanctions clock and a two

- year Federal Implementation Plan clock. Arizona submitted a replacement plan, MAG 2012 Five Percent Plan for PM 10 , on May 25, 2012. EPA found
th at submission complete on July 20 , 2012. A.R.S. § 49

- 457.01 and 11

- 877 are included
in the submittal.

R ULE SUMMARY

ARS 49

- 457.01 (Leaf Blower Use Restrictions and Training; Leaf Blower Equipment Sellers; Informational Material; Outreach; Applicability) and ARS 11

- 877 (Air Quality Control Measures) are designed to ensure further reductions of PM 10 emissions from leaf
blowers in order to pr ogress towards attainment of federal and state standards and to protect public health and welfare.

ARS 49

- 457.01 Leaf Blower Use Restrictions and Training; Leaf Blower Equipment Sellers; Informational Material; Outreach; Applicability

- controls PM 10 emissions from leaf blowers by:

 Prohibiting the use of leaf blowers to blow landscape debris into public roadways.

 Limiting the use of leaf blowers to stabilized surfaces.

 Instituting a training requirement for leaf blower operators who operate the device for remuneration.

 Educating operators who use leaf blowers in the normal course of their business to blow landscape debris.

 Requiring persons selling or renting leaf blowers to distribute approved printed training material s to the operators.

 Requiring Maricopa County to produce and distribute printed materials to persons who sell or rent leaf blowers. The printed materials would be designed to educate and inform users on the safe and efficient use of the equipment, includi ng methods

to reduce dust

.

ARS 11

- 877 Air Quality Control Measures

- mandates the board of supervisors of any county containing a portion of Area A (as defined in section 40

- 541) to develop, implement, and enforce the following air quality control measures:

 Prohibits employees or contractors from operating leaf blowers on any high pollution advisory day except while in vacuum mode.

 Prohibits employees or contractors from blowing landscape debris into public roadways at any time. 4



 Shall adopt, imple ment, and enforce an ordinance that bans the blowing of landscape debris into public roadways at any time by any person.

 Shall adopt, implement, and enforce an ordinance that prohibits the operation of leaf blowers except on stabilized surfaces.

 Additional ly, this section does not apply to any site that has a permit issued by a control officer as defined in section 49

- 471 for the control of fugitive dust from dust generating operations.

EPA REVIEW CRITERIA

EPA considered the criteria described and set forth in the following sections of the CAA and guidance documents to evaluate this rule:

1. Enforceability Section 110(a) of the Clean Air Act requires enforceable SIP requirements. Several EPA guidance documents are used to evaluate rule enforceability, including the “Bluebook” ( Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Clarification to Appendix D) , November 24, 1978, 52 FR 45044), and “the Little Bluebook” (Guidance Document for Cor recting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies ), EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001.

2. Rule Relaxation EPA must evaluate whether this SIP revision would interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attainment and reasonable further progress (RFP) or any requirement of the Act (CAA 110(l)) or modify, in a nonattainment area, any SIP

approved control requirement in effect before November 15, 1990 (CAA 193).

RULE EVALUATION

E nforceability

- - We believe th ese statutes are consistent with the relevant policy and guidance regarding enforceability. Requirements are clear and compliance determinations are straightforward given the nature of the rule s

.

Rule Relaxation

- - We have evaluated th ese SIP revision s to determine whether they would interfere with any applicable requirement concerning attain ment and reasonable further progress (RFP) or any other applicable requirement of the Act (CAA §110(l)) or modify, in a nonattainment area, any SIP

- approved control requirement in effect before November 19, 1990 (CAA §193). ARS 49

- 457.01 and 11

- 877 reduce emissions and strengthen the SIP because there are no previous version s of the statute s in the SIP. Furthermore, they do not undermine other existing SIP provisions. Therefore, we propose to determine that an approval of the submittal would comply with CAA sections 110(l) and 193 because (1) the proposed SIP revision s would not interfere with the on

- going process for ensuring that requirements for the RFP and attainment of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards are met, and (2) the submi tted SIP revision s are more 5



stringent than the existing SIP requirements.

RULE DEF ICIENCES

We have identified no deficiencies with ARS 49

- 457.01 and 11

- 877 sufficient for EPA to propose less than full approval.

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE NEXT RULE REVISION

The regulation of leaf blowers has been in existence since the 1970’s when they first became used as an alternative to brooms and rakes to clean up lawn and garden d ebris. Local regulations are in place to control noise and, to use California as an example, there
are more than 20 California communities that have outlawed the use of all leaf blowers.
An additional 80 other California communities have ordinances restr icting either the time of use or the noise level or both. In addition to noise, leaf blowers also create emissions from their gas oline

- powered engines and from the powerful air streams they create.

Nonetheless, we believe that additional requirements to control PM 10 emissions are not required at this time for reasons including the following:

a. Leaf blower PM 10 emissions are primarily caused by dust entrained by the leaf blower air streams. These are of a fugitive nature and difficult to quantify, but generally projected to be a relatively small portion of nonattainment area inventories.
b. W e have not identified any formal rule s in existing SIPs to address these emissions, including in California

, which arguably has the worst PM 10 problems

, and the most aggressive air pol lution control agencies in the c ountry.

c. We are not aware of any EPA or State policy, guidance or rules descri bing PM 10 control for leaf blowers

.

Nontheless, there are a significant number of municipal, county, and state ordinances/regulations that do provide a frame of reference to reduce emissions. Some of
the recommendations from these ordinances/regulations are provided below and should be

con sidered to increase rule effectiveness:

1. At least one city in Arizona restricts the size of gas

- powered leaf blowers. [Ordinance
No. 14

- 08, An Ordinance of the Mayor and Town Council of the Town of Buckeye, AZ, Amending the Town of Buckeye Code Chapters Nine, and Twelve, Related to Air Quality, Dust Control, and Vehicular Use on Unpav ed Roadways, http://www.buckeyeaz.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/313 ] . While the original
intent of this ordinance may have been to control noise, this measure should also
reduce the veloci ty of blown air and associated fugitive dust emissions. We are not
aware that it has been sho wn to be generally available, h owever, particularly in light of Buckeye’s local ordinance; Arizona should evaluate the cost

- effectiveness of this control strategy in the future. 6



2. Many other areas have adopted local rules primarily to control leaf blower noise and
nuisance. Several have the ancillary impact of reducing exhaust emissions (e.g., converting from gas to electric powered engines). However, since leaf b lowers primarily emit PM 10 from the blown air rather than engine exhaust, PM 10 impacts of these controls are likely to be small. Nonetheless, Arizona could consider such strategi es if additional PM 10 reduc tions are needed in the future. Specifically:

 Reduce hours of operation [ http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine

archive/2010/september/home

- garden/leaf

- blower/blower

- no ise/index.htm ] and [http://www.mercurynews.com/san

- mateo

- county

- times/ci_21919846/san

- mateo

mulls

- leaf

- blower

- ban]

o Weekdays excluding early morning and late afternoon.

o Exclude Sundays and holidays

o Restrict commercial use to one or more days per week per n eighborhood.

 Consider requiring only electric

- powered leaf blowers rather than gas

- powered blowers, which are typically noisier and emit additional pollutants (e.g. exhaust and unburned gas).

 Consider requiring gas

- powered leaf blowers to have lower emitti ng 4

- stroke engines rather tha n the 2

- stroke engines: [http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/offroad/sm_en_fs.pdf]

 Require operation at lower speeds [http://www.mercurynews.com/san

- mateo

county

- times/ci_21919846/san

- mateo

- mulls

- leaf

- blower

- ban].

3. Other areas have developed related programs that Arizona should also consider in the
futu re including:

 Implement a Lawn Equipment (Leaf Blower) Exchange Program [EPA: http://www.epa.gov/air/community/details/yardequip.html#2] and [SCAQMD: http://www.aqmd.gov/tao/leafblow erexchange.htm]

.

 Raise public awareness:

o Maintain a Lawn Equipment Awareness table at public places such as libraries, schools, or community centers.

o Sponsor a lawn Equipment Awareness booth at public places and/or events such as malls, athletic events, or fairs. [http://www.epa.gov/air/community/details/yardequip.html]

.

 Effectively publicize the rule since citizen complaints will most likely be the primary means enforcement personnel will be aware of rule violations [http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1231 28859885159113.html]

.

 Institute a civil penalties fee structure for violations.

 Provide enforcement authority to a broader range of enforcement individuals rather that limiting enforcement to only the Control Officer.

4. W e recommend defining the terms in paragraph 3 of 11

- 877 or requiring appropriate definitions in the measures required by this statute with respect to the terms “stabilized

, ” “granite, aggregate, or gravel cover” (i.e. minimum depth and % of 7



coverage )

, and “grass of other continuous vegetat ive cover” (i.e. minimum % of coverage), along with appropriate test methods

. As an example, Imperial County Rule
800 contains a defi nition for stabilized surface (s ection C.34 ) and for test methods (Appendix B). Imperial Rule 806 provides additional con trol measure speci ficity, for example (section C 23) g ravel.

5. We recommend deletion of paragraph B in 11

- 877 as we see no reason why permitted sources should not be subject to at least as stringent leaf

- blower restrictions as private
citizens.

EPA ACTION

EPA believes that the statutory provisions associated with ARS Rule 49

- 457.01 and 11

- 877 are consistent with the relevant policy and guidance regarding enforceability and SIP relaxations. EPA staff recommends approving th ese provisions in accordance wit h section 110(k)(3) of the Clean Air Act.

REFERENCES :

1. Issues Relating to VOC Regulation Cutpoints, Deficiencies, and Deviations, (a.k.a., Bl uebook) EPA OAQPS, May 25, 1988: ( http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/ozone/ozonetech/voc_bluebook.pdf ).

2. Guidance Document for Correcting Common VOC & Other Rule Deficiencies, (a.k.a., Little Bluebook)

, EPA Region 9, August 21, 2001: ( http://www.epa.gov/region09/air/sips/littlebluebook2001.pdf )

.

3. State Implementation Plans; General Preamble for the Implementation of Title
I of the Cl ean Air Act Amendments of 1990, 57 FR 13498 (April 16, 1992); 57 FR 18070 (April 28, 1992).

4. State Implementation Plans for Serious PM 10 Nonattainment Areas, and
Attainment Date Waivers for PM 10 Nonattainment Areas Generally; Addendum to the General Preamble for the Implementation of Title I of the Cl ean Air Act Amendments of 1990, 59 FR 41998 (August 16, 1994).

5. PM 10 Guideline Document, EPA 452/R

- 93

- 008, April 1993.

6. Fugitive Dust Background Document and Technical Information Document for
Bes t Available Control Measures, (September 1992).

7. A Report to the California Legislature on the Potential Health and Environmental Impacts of Leaf Blo wers, California Air Resources Board, February 2000. 8

 8. Reducing Pollution from Small Engines, Fact Sheet, California Air Resources Board, April 1998.

9. Leaf Blower Pollution Haz ards in Orange County : ( www.ocgrandjury.org/pdfs/ leaf blow.pdf )

.

10. Maricopa County Ordinance P

- 25, Leaf Blower Restriction : http://www.maricopa.gov/aq/divisions/planning_analysis/rules/docs/p25

- 0802.pdf

.

11. Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, Implementation of Executive
Order 2007

- 03, signed January 8, 2007, Regarding Leafblowers and Gas Powered Equipment : http://www.azdeq.gov/environ/air/down load/Exec_Order_2007

- 03.pdf

.

12. An Ordinance of the Mayor and Town Council of the Town of Buckeye, Arizona, Amending the Town of Buckeye Code Chapters Nine, and Twelve, Related to Air Quality, Dust Control, and Vehicular Use on Unpaved Roadway s: http://www.buckeyeaz.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/313

.

13. San Mateo Mulls Leaf

- Blower Ban , San Mateo County Times. November 2,
2012 : http://www.mercurynews.com/san

- mateo

- county

times/ci_21919846/san

- mateo

- mulls

- leaf

- blower

- ban

.

14. Lowerin g the Volume on Leaf Blowers, Wall Street Journal, January 7, 2009: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB12312 8859885159113.html

.

15. Leaf

- Blower Regulations Nationwide, Consumer Reports, September 2010 : http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/ma gazine

- archive/2010/september/home

garden/leaf

- blower/blower

- noise/index.htm

.

16. Determination of Particulate Emission Rates from Leaf Blowers, Dennis Fitz et al. and Gary Arcemo nt , Center of Environmental Research and Technology, University of California Riverside: http://www.epa.gov/ttnchie1/conference/ei15/session5/fitz.pdf

.

17. Imperial County Air Pollution Control District (ICAPCD) Rule 800 General Requirements f

or Control o f Fin e Particulate Matter ( PM 10 ), Adopted 10/10/94; Revised 11/25/96; Revised 11/08/2005; Revised 10/16/2012 ; Submitted to EPA 11/07/12; Proposed Approval 78 FR 922 (January 7, 2013).

18. ICAPCD Rule 806 Conservation Management Practices (CMPs) , Adopted 11/08/05; Revised 10/16/12; Submitted to EPA 11/07/12; Proposed Approval 78 FR 922 (January 7, 2013).

19. State of Arizona Senate Bill 1552, Adopted July 2, 2007