Salinas, CA Noise Ordinances: Leaf Blower Rules (2026)

11 to the Health and Safety Code after lawmakers found that a single hour of operating a commercial leaf blower emits as much reactive organic gas and oxides of nitrogen as driving a new passenger car 1,100 miles (Stats. 2021, Ch. 753, Sec. 1). The statute gave the California Air Resources Board until July 1, 2022 to adopt cost-effective, technologically feasible regulations banning engine exhaust and evaporative emissions from new small off-road engines, the class that covers gas leaf blowers, string trimmers, and similar lawn and garden tools.

Those regulations reach engines produced on or after January 1, 2024, or later if the board finds an earlier date is not yet feasible. Before setting the date, the board had to weigh five factors written into the statute: current SORE emissions statewide, the expected timeline for zero-emission equipment to reach the market, the added electricity demand from more charging, how commercial operators' use differs from residential use, and whether zero-emission generators and emergency equipment would be available. Subsection (b) also directs the board to build commercial rebate or incentive funding into existing air-district grant programs to help operators switch to battery equipment.

Salinas has adopted no separate leaf-blower ordinance of its own: the municipal code's noise article does not name blowers, and enforcement of the state phase-out runs through CARB and the local air district that administers its equipment rules, not through a city permit or registration system.