" Cities Offer Discounts on Green Mowers," in today's USA Today, looks at the growth in mower-exchange programs nationwide, like the one run by the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Southern California (watch video). The article notes:
"When a gasoline-powered mower rumbles along a lawn, the tiny puff of carbon monoxide it coughs up is barely noticeable. But multiply that puff by 44 million—the number of gasoline-powered push mowers the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates are in use in the USA—and it's an air quality issue, especially in areas facing the likelihood of violating clean air standards that will take effect Aug. 31, EPA spokesman Dave Ryan says. . . .
"To help improve air quality, communities across the USA are offering residents vouchers and discounts toward purchase of electric or non-motorized mowers when they turn in their gas-powered mowers, says Bill Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies, which represents air pollution agencies in most states. . . .
"Operating a typical 3.5-horsepower, gas-powered lawn mower for one hour that's not equipped with a pollution-control catalyst creates as much pollution as driving a newer sedan from Washington, D.C., to Boston, Becker says. Newer model mowers have catalytic converters that help turn pollutants such as carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides into ‘normal atmospheric gases' such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water, according to the EPA's Ryan."
For more information on the new emissions standards for what the EPA refers to as "new nonroad spark-ignition engines, equipment, and vessels"—a category that includes mowers and tractors—visit this EPA page.
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