The City of Dallas is developing an ordinance that may ban the use of gas-powered lawn care equipment within city limits.
The plan would phase out the use of gas-powered lawn care and landscaping tools in Dallas for city departments, contractors, businesses, and residents by 2027 or 2030 and mandate the use of equipment that does not use gasoline.
However, members of the public, including those who work in lawn care, have expressed concerns about the proposed ban, as previously covered by The Dallas Express.
City officials discussed the proposal during an Environment and Sustainability Committee meeting on Monday, December 5. Their plan is to continue developing the proposal before voting on it during the committee meeting in May 2023, after which the ordinance will go before the full city council in June.
The proposal is being developed by the Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability (OEQS). On Monday, Director Carlos Evans shared a memo with the committee outlining the office’s plan over the next six months.
According to the memo, the OEQS plans to analyze how the proposal will affect the public, launch a public awareness campaign in February, and work with relevant departments to begin transitioning city equipment. The OEQS plans for approximately 20% of City equipment to be transitioned from gas-powered to electric by the end of 2023.
Councilmember Carolyn King Arnold, District 4, expressed the need for a public hearing regarding this proposal. She said she has received “quite a bit of input regarding the proposal as it relates to the average contractor and homeowner.”
“I’m not getting much support behind this proposal,” she continued. “In terms of a public hearing, are we going to engage the public as it relates to the proposal — especially as it relates to the impact to personal preference, the environmental issues?”
Arnold asked Councilmember Paula Blackmon, chair of the committee, to consider a public hearing to gather input from “those who have something to share with us before we make that decision.”
Blackmon, who represents District 9, responded that they are “really early in the process” and the “intent is to have a robust discussion” in an effort to balance the needs of the private sector with the environmental goals of the city government.
“We can’t make a good decision without hearing both sides of this equation,” she said.
Arnold noted that this proposed ban would cause an added expense for those who do lawn care.
“They are on their own. That’s their source of income. We are potentially pushing them into a new expense of new equipment, and they want their word [and] their position heard,” she said, “speaking on behalf of those who have questioned” her.
As many Dallas residents have voiced opposition to this proposed ban, Councilmember Jaynie Schultz advocated for a “public education campaign” about the alleged damage that can be caused by equipment like leaf blowers in terms of both the environment and hearing.
However, she added that the city government should take initial responsibility for being “100% compliant” with the proposal, testing it before “rolling it out to the public.”
The OEQS will continue developing the proposal and providing periodic updates to the Environment and Sustainability Committee until May, when it will go up for a vote. If it passes the committee, it will go before the Dallas City Council in June 2023.
