Have Any States Banned Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers? The Answer Is Complicated

Leaf blowers undeniably make yard work so much easier. Instead of raking and sweeping around your massive lawn, you can simply blow the clutter away. There are also a host of other practical uses for your leaf blower that make it one of the most essential tools in your garage. It can come in handy for removing snow or sand, cleaning tight corners and gravel paths, and even quickly blow-drying your car in a pinch.

But despite its versatility, leaf blowers, especially the gas-powered variant, can be quite the menace, too. They're loud enough to wake the dead, often exceeding the safe noise levels of 70dB and increasing the risk of hearing loss, hypertension, and even high cholesterol. Plus, they emit fumes like formaldehyde, methane, and smog compounds that are toxic to both humans and the environment. Based on 2011 tests of the engineers at automotive platform Edmunds, two-stroke leaf blowers actually produce over 23 times more carbon monoxide and 300 times more non-methane hydrocarbons than a 2011 Ford F-150 SVT Raptor.

With such harmful effects, there has been a consistent campaign to ban gas-powered leaf blowers across the country. But have any states actually pushed through with a ban? Well, not exactly.

As of this writing, no statewide bans on the use of gas-powered leaf blowers have been imposed in the United States. There are, however, varied efforts to encourage more consumers to switch to environmentally friendly alternatives. For instance, California is requiring new leaf blowers from 2024 onwards to run on zero-emission engines. Meanwhile, Colorado is prohibiting federal, state, and local governments from using gas-powered leaf blowers (and other small hand-held lawn equipment) from June to August every year starting in June 2025. Utah, through its Department of Environmental Quality, is rolling out incentives to residents and lawn care business owners who will swap out their gas-powered machines for electric leaf blowers.

Although state governments are yet to pass bans on gas-powered leaf blowers, dozens of cities throughout the country have taken it upon themselves to adopt their own restrictions. In California alone, several individual cities have chosen to ban residents from using gas-powered leaf blowers as early as 1975. These localities include Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Los Altos, and Carmel-by-the-Sea, the very first city in the state to enforce the ban. The same strict restriction is practiced in Miami Beach, FL; Lewes, DE; and Aspen, CO, while others like Lexington, MA; Village of Ardsley, NY; and Ann Arbor, MI are only phasing out gas leaf blowers slowly.

In some cities, the ordinances against the use of leaf blowers only apply to certain months. In Lake Bluff, Illinois, it's from May 15 to September 30. In Yonkers, New York, it's between June to September. In Princeton, New Jersey, leaf blowers are banned twice a year: from December 16 to March 14 and from May 16 to September 30. Most US cities, though, don't adopt laws against gas-powered leaf blowers. Instead, they incentivize those who upgrade to an electric machine.