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To whom it may concern,

I am speaking as a sales manager for a distributor of high pressure
washers located in Central California. I have many concerns
regarding the passage of AB 1346 pertaining to the phasing out of
the sale of small off-road engines, but I will provide comments on
a few in particular. I am certain that the negative economic and
water conservation impacts as well as the negative impact to the
public health of the communities that we serve would greatly
outweigh the perceived benefits of phasing out the sale of small
off-road engines.

Socio-economic impact:
One of the biggest opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs is to
get into the pressure washing sanitation business due to the
relatively low barriers to entry in terms of cost and the
(currently) limitless opportunities and needs for sanitation. The
majority of these businesses require small off-road engines to run
their pressure washer equipment due to their portability and
versatility. With the passage of this legislation, we are
essentially eliminating tens of thousands of California jobs, many
of which are held by minorities. This legislation would be very
regressive and further expand the socio-economic gap. 

Health impact:
Considering we are in the midst of a global pandemic which has
already claimed over 750,000 American lives; I would think that
protecting one of the key means of public sanitation would be a top
priority. This legislation would cripple the efforts of our
customers who provide commercial and public sanitation services. 

Water conservation impact:
As we all know, we are in the middle of a drought in California.
Pressure washers use less water than other cleaning methods,
including a standard hose. While the water in a pressure washer
spews out with greater force, it uses about 50% to 70% less water.
A typical hose puts out between six to ten gallons per minute
(GPM), while a conventional pressure washer uses between two and
five GPM. 

I have full faith in American innovation and I assume that there
will be battery-powered pressure washers at some point in the
future which will be able to replace existing small, off-road
engine pressure washers, but the technology isn't available yet,
and it almost certainly won't be available by January 2024. We need
to be strategic and ensure that we don't create a massive gap in
our public health response, drive ourselves into a deeper hole with
respect to the drought, and destroy the livelihood of tens of
thousands of small businesses before we have a viable alternative
technology for providing necessary sanitation services.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
Byron Lafferty