2020.IE15.8

Request to Study the Environmental Impact of Two-Stroke Engine Garden Equipment

Other Action City Council consideration on Oct 2, 2020

Background

“Gasoline-powered leaf blowers and other types of small engine equipment are powered by inefficient two-stroke engines. The process of incomplete fuel combustion generates dangerous hydrocarbon 500 times that of an average automobile and produces toxic aerosol (including carcinogenic particulates) for us to breathe in.”

Source: City of Toronto

Item Description

This item requests “the City Manager, in consultation with the Medical Officer of Health, to report back in the first quarter of 2021 on the environmental and associated health impacts of gasoline-powered two-stroke engine leaf blowers and other similarly operated garden equipment, and to consult with the Medical Officer of Health Executive Director, Municipal Licensing and Standards on the impact of noise generated by similar equipment, including the feasibility of a year-round ban or a ban from May to September.”

Source: City of Toronto

Proposed by

Councillor Shelley Carroll, seconded by Councillor James Pasternak

Result

Carried

Yes16 No5 Absent4