The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District is hoping that new funding and a simplified, regional voucher request process will make clean, electric lawn mowers available to more Valley residents through the Clean, Green Yard Machine program that began Monday. “This is our most popular consumer program, and one that pays off in big clean-air dividends for everyone in the Valley,” said Seyed Sadredin, the district’s executive director and air pollution control officer. “We’re very pleased to be able to offer this program again this year, and to more residents than ever.” Local funding for this program was authorized by the district’s Governing Board in combination with a state grant for residents of the San Joaquin Valley. Additionally, the district partnered with the Sierra Club and the Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment in Kern County to provide additional vouchers for residents in the Valley portion of Kern County. The lawn mower trade-in program replaces old, polluting, gas-powered mowers with clean, electric Neuton mowers for just $50 (14 inch cutting blade) or $100 (19 inch cutting blade), including shipping, with the trade-in of an older, gas-powered mower. New, regional phone numbers dedicated to Clean, Green Yard Machines will streamline and simplify the voucher request process:
· Residents in Tulare and the Valley portion of Kern counties: 661-392-5685
· Residents in Fresno, Kings and Madera counties: 559-230-6185
· Residents in Merced, Stanislaus and San Joaquin counties: 209-557-6485
Vouchers must be requested by phone in advance and will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis until funds are exhausted. Limit one per household or three per business. Program participants must be residents of the San Joaquin Valley air basin: San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Kings, Tulare and the Valley air basin portion of Kern counties. After receiving a voucher, the applicant must turn in a working, gas-powered mower at an authorized recycler in their county (a list of recyclers is available at www.valleyair.org). Then, they can phone Neuton at a toll-free number and order their new, cordless, electric lawn mower, which will be delivered to their door. Trading in a gas-powered mower for an electric mower is one way to reduce personal emissions and clean up the Valley’s air. Emissions from using a gas-powered mower for one hour are equivalent to driving 40 late-model cars for the same length of time. For complete details about the program, visit www.valleyair.org or call a regional District office: Fresno, 559-230-6000; Bakersfield, 661-392-550; or Modesto, 557-6400.
