California’s AB 1346 will phase out the sale of new gas-powered small off-road engines in the state. Small off-road engines, primarily found in outdoor power equipment, emit smog-forming pollutants, including high levels of oxides of nitrogen (NOx), reactive organic gases (ROG), and particulate matter (PM), which adversely affect air quality and human health.
AB 1346 would require the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to set emissions requirements for small off-road engines to zero. This bill would require the state board, by July 1, 2022, consistent with federal law, to adopt cost-effective and technologically feasible regulations to prohibit engine exhaust and evaporative emissions from new small off-road engines, as defined by the state board, which would go into effect by 2024 or whenever CARB determines is feasible. The bill would require the state board to identify and, to the extent feasible, make available funding for commercial rebates or similar incentive funding as part of any updates to existing applicable funding program guidelines to local air pollution control districts and air quality management districts to implement to support the transition to zero-emission small off-road equipment operations.