Electric Lawn Equipment Now Required In Summer 2025 In Colorado

Recently, we wrote about how Colorado could soon be regulating the use of gas-powered lawnmowers in nine counties on the Front Range starting in 2025.

While the regulation went through many different variations, on December 15th, Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) was able to come to a vote on some of the measures.

While some of the possible measures were left out of the new regulation, they still enacted parts of it. Let’s go over what to expect for the use of electric lawn equipment coming in the summer of 2025.

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What Colorado’s Air Quality Control Commission Enacted With Regulation 29 on December 15th

In the AQCC’s vote on Regulation 29, they prohibited the use of gas-powered lawn equipment between the summer months of June and August, when emissions from these sources are at their highest.

However, think of this more as a soft ban rather than total elimination. The ban will only affect government properties statewide along with local government entities. It is targeted at the Front Range nonattainment zones, with counties including Denver, Douglas, Arapahoe, Adams, Boulder, Jefferson, Broomfield, Weld, and the non-mountainous parts of Larimer County.

According to the EPA, a nonattainment zone is an area that exceeds the pollution standards set for living healthily.

What Proposals Were Left Out of Regulation 29?

As stated in the last article on the subject, old proposals extended towards prohibiting contractors from using gas-powered lawn equipment within the Front Range nonattainment zone as well.

However, the AQCC left contractors from the regulation, meaning they will still be able to use gas-powered equipment in the summer months.

On the other hand, older proposals also focused on phasing out the selling of gas-powered lawn equipment within the nonattainment zone. However, this was also left out of the new Regulation 29 as well.

All of this comes after the Colorado legislature has made decreasing emissions a critical priority, given they have not passed EPA’s standards for air quality in over a decade.

Have There Been Any Responses to Colorado’s Regulation 29?

In a recent press release, the American Lung Association (ALA) commented on their thoughts about the passing of Regulation 29 in its current form.

While they were happy with some action being done, they were left a bit dissatisfied with the final product. Nick Torres, the Advocacy Director for ALA in Colorado, said:

“It was encouraging to see that the AQCC recognizes that gas-powered lawn and garden equipment is a significant source of air pollution. But we were disappointed that the AQCC stopped short of taking more decisive steps to reduce pollution from the commercial landscaping sector and phase-in zero-emission equipment for consumers, leaving many health benefits on the table. There is still so much work to do to ensure that all Coloradans have healthy air to breathe, especially the millions of people who live in the state’s ozone non-attainment area and anyone living with lung disease.”

They also noted that running a handheld leaf blower for just one hour creates the same amount of emissions as a drive from Denver to Los Angeles.

In their 2023 State of the Air report, they found that Fort Collins, Colorado Springs, and Denver all are within the 25 worst cities in the United States for ozone pollution.