MOWER-EMISSIONS CUT SOUGHT.Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer That sputtering A popular method for adhering thin films onto a substrate. Sputtering is done by bombarding a target material with a charged gas (typically argon) which releases atoms in the target that coats the nearby substrate. It all takes place inside a magnetron vacuum chamber under low pressure. old gasoline lawn mower mower, farm machine used for cutting grasses and other hay crops. Mowers, drawn by or attached to tractors, or self-propelled, have superseded scythes. The mower is essentially an adaptation of the much earlier reaper. The first commercial mower was patented in 1847. may get only an hour's use a week, but over a year it can spew as much pollution as a new sedan. So state regulators are eyeing major reductions in emissions from those yard workhorses, also from weed whackers, leaf blowers and chain saws. In June, the state Air Resources Board is expected to cut emission standards for garden equipment by 50 percent. To help achieve that goal, officials are offering new electric lawn mowers for $150, along with the trade-in of old gas-powered mowers. An exchange event is set for Saturday at Hollywood Park Hollywood Park may be several places:
Garden equipment now generates about 6 percent of the region's ozone-forming pollutants. That's a pittance pit·tance n. 1. A meager monetary allowance, wage, or remuneration. 2. A very small amount: not a pittance of remorse. compared with cars, which contribute 57 percent. But now regulators are facing a 2010 deadline to cut ozone by 22 percent, or roughly 540 tons per day. ``A lot of air pollution is not caused by a couple of large sources, but millions and millions of small sources,'' said Sam Atwood, spokesman for the South Coast Air Quality Management District The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), formed in 1976, is the air pollution agency responsible mainly for regulating stationary sources of air pollution for most of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside County, and all of Orange county. . ``And when you consider lawn mowers can pollute pol·lute v. 1. To make unfit for or harmful to living things, especially by the addition of waste matter; contaminate. 2. To make less suitable for an activity, especially by the introduction of unwanted factors. more than a family car, in many ways it's not such a small source.'' California's regulations, which took effect in 1995, required mower manufacturers to cut emissions by 50 percent. Mowers traditionally were built with lightweight two-stroke engines, but to meet the new standards most mower manufacturers starting putting in four-stroke engines. That made them cleaner, but the machines are still significant polluters. This June the California Air Resources Board California Air Resources Board (CARB) is the "clean air agency" of the state of California in the United States. Established originally in 1967, it is a part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, an organization which reports directly to the California , which sets air pollution standards for engines, will consider ratcheting down mowers' emissions levels again - by another 50 percent. ``The next technology would bring a clean four-stroke engine to a cleaner level,'' said Jacline Lourenco, the board's manager of off-road engine controls. The proposed standard is so strict that most manufacturers will have to install catalytic converters, the exhaust filters common in cars to reduce air pollution. Likewise, hand-held equipment such as leaf blowers and chain saws, would need a nearly 50 percent reduction in emissions, Lourenco said. Industry groups are skeptical of the ARB's proposals, saying the technology just isn't available to make those deep pollution cuts. ``If we did what they wanted we'll have a bunch of unsafe products and at a much higher cost,'' said Pat Curtiss, vice president with the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute, which represents manufacturers such as John Deere, Toro Toro may refer to:
IF YOU GO The AQMD's lawn mower trade-in will be held from 7 a.m. to noon Saturday at Hollywood Park, 1050 S. Prairie Ave., Inglewood. The agency is offering a $449 Black & Decker 24-volt, cordless rechargeable lawn mower for $150, plus a working gas-powered mower. The district has 1,000 electric mowers available on a first-come, first-served “FCFS” redirects here. For the figure skating competition, see Four Continents Figure Skating Championships. This article is about a general service policy. For the technical concept, see FIFO. basis. CAPTION(S): box Box: IF YOU GO (see text) |
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