Gas-Powered Leaf Blower Bans Are Escalating Across The US

Even though the fall has elapsed, a good-quality leaf blower is still one of the most useful home improvement items to have around. These tools can be either corded, cordless, or powered by gasoline, and each of those power sources has its advantages and disadvantages. 

Electric leaf blowers are way ahead of gas-powered ones in terms of mechanical simplicity, and they're also much quieter and much easier to live with than their gas-powered equivalents. The electric motor only has one moving part, and all you have to do is either plug it in or insert the included battery pack. That's all there is to it. 

As electric leaf blowers are, objectively, a much better option than gas-powered blowers, it shouldn't come as a surprise that states and local governments all over the U.S. have been trying to phase out gas leaf blowers completely. California, for example, has banned the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers state-wide since 2024 (with some towns prohibiting their use outright), while states like Colorado offer incentives to upgrade to the electric equivalents. So, before you pull the trigger on a gas-powered leaf blower, have a look at your local state laws first. Let's explore.

The main reasons for banning gas-powered leaf blowers are broadly the same as those that pushed EU legislators to try and ban internal combustion engines by 2035 (at least, until they backpedalled): gas-powered blowers are noisier and much more polluting than electric equivalents. Some U.S. states, like New York, are exploring offering rebates to replace gas blowers with electric blowers. Colorado, Nebraska, Texas, Wyoming, New Mexico, and Maryland are already offering these rebates.

While no states have outright banned the use of gas-powered lawn equipment (to our knowledge), certain towns have opted to prohibit the use of such equipment. Gas-powered leaf blowers and weed whackers have been banned in California towns and cities such as Yountville and Coronado, for example. Palm Beach and Sanibel City in Florida have gone down a similar route. 

Attempts to reduce the use of gas blowers haven't gone smoothly, however. Residents of Westport, Connecticut, for example, discovered that the noise rules for gas-powered blowers weren't being enforced. Some states and areas in the U.S. are also straight-up pushing back on the ban.