California’s AB 1346 was signed into law on October 9, 2021, but the dates that matter for buyers, sellers, and landscapers are the two phase-in deadlines the California Air Resources Board (CARB) set under it. Most new gas-powered small off-road equipment — lawn mowers, leaf blowers, trimmers, chain saws, and similar tools — had to meet zero-emission standards starting with model year 2024, which took effect January 1, 2024. Portable generators and large pressure washers (engines of 225 cc or more) follow a later deadline: model year 2028.1California Legislative Information. AB-1346 Air Pollution: Small Off-Road Engines
The Two Effective Dates
AB 1346 itself didn’t ban any equipment on the day it was signed. The statute directed CARB to write the actual regulations by July 1, 2022, and those regulations are what carry the deadlines.1California Legislative Information. AB-1346 Air Pollution: Small Off-Road Engines CARB approved them in late 2021 and structured the rollout in two phases.
- Model year 2024 (effective January 1, 2024): Zero-emission standards apply to most new small off-road engines manufactured for sale in California. Covered equipment includes lawn mowers, leaf blowers, chain saws, string trimmers, hedge trimmers, edgers, and similar tools rated at 25 horsepower or less.
- Model year 2028: The zero-emission requirement extends to portable generators and pressure washers with engine displacement of 225 cc or more. Between 2024 and 2028, these categories face tighter emission limits — 40 to 90 percent stricter than previous standards — but are not yet required to be zero-emission.2California Air Resources Board. CARB Approves Updated Regulations Requiring Most New Small Off-Road Engines Be Zero Emission by 2024
The original statute gave CARB some flexibility, requiring the regulations to apply to engines produced on or after January 1, 2024, “or as soon as the state board determines is feasible, whichever is later.”1California Legislative Information. AB-1346 Air Pollution: Small Off-Road Engines CARB found 2024 feasible for the first phase and kept to that date.2California Air Resources Board. CARB Approves Updated Regulations Requiring Most New Small Off-Road Engines Be Zero Emission by 2024
What “In Effect” Actually Means
The deadlines apply to manufacturing new equipment for sale or import into California. They don’t require anyone to stop using gas equipment they already own. CARB’s own guidance states that it does not regulate the use of existing CARB-compliant equipment.3California Air Resources Board. SORE Applicability Fact Sheet A gas mower or blower purchased in 2023 remains legal to use under state law.
Retailers aren’t required to pull pre-2024 inventory off the shelf either. What changes on the effective date is production: manufacturers cannot produce new gas-powered models in the covered categories for the California market starting with model year 2024.2California Air Resources Board. CARB Approves Updated Regulations Requiring Most New Small Off-Road Engines Be Zero Emission by 2024
Could the 2028 Date Shift?
The 2028 phase for generators and large pressure washers is not necessarily locked in. CARB’s board directed staff to conduct a technology readiness assessment in the 2025–2026 timeframe. If that review finds the required zero-emission technology is unlikely to be available by 2028, the timeline could be adjusted. As of early 2026, no official postponement has been announced.
At the federal level, the EPA published a notice in the Federal Register in January 2025 addressing California’s authorization to enforce the 2021 SORE amendments under the Clean Air Act’s waiver provision.4Federal Register. California State Nonroad Engine Pollution Control Standards; Small Off-Road Engines Regulations That authorization is what allows California to go beyond the EPA’s existing Phase 3 standards for small spark-ignition engines.5U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Regulations for Emissions from Small Equipment and Tools
Local Use Bans Are a Separate Matter
AB 1346’s effective dates don’t control whether you can run gas equipment in a given city. Many California cities and counties have adopted their own ordinances that ban the use of gas-powered leaf blowers, and sometimes other equipment, within city limits. These local rules predate or run alongside AB 1346 and can carry their own fines. If you operate landscaping equipment professionally, check the ordinances in every city where you work; the state effective date tells you nothing about whether a particular municipality will let you fire up a gas blower.