- The Forestry and Natural Resources Commission wrote a letter in January 2023 to the Arlington County Board covering NOVA Parks activity in Arlington. One thing it noted was reducing noise pollution:
“The FRNC would also like to highlight NOVA Parks’ goal of cutting the use of fossil
fuels by converting to electric vehicles and electric mowers. The FNRC recognizes that
these are positive steps toward reducing air and noise pollution and encourages NOVA Parks to reduce use of other gasoline-powered equipment, in particular leaf blowers, as technology improves and makes them more practical for crews working outdoors.”
For the full text of the letter, please see: https://www.arlingtonva.us/files/sharedassets/public/commissions/documents/fnrc/fnrc-letter-on-nova-parks-stewardship.pdf
- On October 5, 2022, Margaret McKelvey emailed the Arlington County Board, noting their decision of last November, 2021, to transition to battery-powered leaf blowers for the County’s inventory, encouraging them to follow Fairfax County’s lead in mounting an education campaign about the desirability of switching to batter blowers, and suggesting that Arlington require landscaping contractors to use electric-powered equipment. Ms. McKelvey also wrote an article in her community’s newsletter, Sweet and Sour News.
Email exchange between Arlington QC NOVA member Elise Bean and Arlington County Board member Matt de Ferranti
The context: Throughout 2021, members had been contacting the Arlington County Board about leaf blower noise and pollution. One member set up a table at a Farmers Market to get support from the public and to ask them to sign our petition to Richmond. On Nov 16, 2021, the Arlington County Board agreed to phase out the use of gas-powered leaf blowers on county land by 2025 and switch to electric. Elise Bean offered to follow-up on this.
On July 22, Elise Bean wrote:
To: Katie Cristol kcristol@arlingtonva.us
Cc: Matt de Ferranti mdeferranti@arlingtonva.us; Graham Weinschenk gweinschenk@arlingtonva.us
Subject: battery-powered leafblowers
Dear Katie:
You may recall that one year ago, several public interest groups, including Quiet Clean NOVA, sent a letter, copy below, and spoke with you and other Board members in a series of fall meetings about the noise-reduction, health, climate change, and environmental benefits of having the
County switch from gas-powered to battery-powered leaf blowers. In November, the Board voted to make the switch by FY2025, reallocated $124,000 in ARPA funding toward the conversion, and appropriated another $54,000 in FY2022 for the same purpose.
QC NOVA remains very grateful for that Board action. To follow up on it, we have two questions.
(1) What is the status of the County effort to convert to battery-powered leaf blowers, and has any portion of the $178,000 been spent or committed to ensure the FY2025 deadline is met?
(2) An “Inside Arlington” County email today announced the County’s new 10-year Capital Improvement Plan. After reviewing associated materials, including the media release copied below, we can’t tell if the plan includes funding to support the County’s switch to battery-powered leaf blowers on county parkland, school grounds, and other public spaces. In the media release:
—the first bullet point refers to “a new parks program for natural resiliency, and investing in various other energy efficiency projects such as electric vehicle charging infrastructure and renewable energy assessments and installations to help reduce the County’s carbon footprint”;
—the graphic indicates that the plan includes $646 million for “environmental resiliency, energy reliability & carbon footprint reduction”; and
—the $22.5 million parks and recreation bond is described as providing funding to “address emerging uses and natural resiliency, invest in planned parks and public spaces as well as conduct improvements, replacements, and upgrades.”
Can you please clarify if any of that funding supports the County’s purchase of battery-powered leaf blowers or possibly other battery-powered landscape equipment?
Thank you again for the Board’s leadership on the leaf blower issue and for your help with a status report and CIP clarification.
Sincerely, Elise
https://www.arlingtonva.us/About-Arlington/News/Articles/2022/2023-CIP-Media-Release