Gasoline-powered leaf blowers will become a tool of the past in Portland as the new year rolls around. Beginning January 1, 2026, they will only be allowed October-December and starting January 1, 2028, the prohibition will become year-round. The change was the result of work that Quiet Clean PDX had been working to enact since 2018, and was unanimously approved by the Portland City Council March 13, 2024 with Ordinance 191653.
No property owner may allow the operation of gas leaf blowers on their property January 1-September 30, except in cases of inclement weather resulting from rain, snow, ice, flood or other storm that pose a significant risk of injury to persons or property as determined by the City Administrator. Additionally, no leaf blower may be operated in a manner that deposits dust and debris onto any neighboring parcel, storm drain, public property or public street except for the purpose of scheduled debris collection by the city.
Any owner that fails to comply may receive a written notice of violation. The notice will state the date, address and violation and specify any corrective action required to comply. A first violation will result in a warning. A second violation may result in a civil penalty of $250. A third violation may result in a civil penalty of $1,000. Each day an owner is in violation is deemed a separate violation.
Quiet Clean PDX wants to make sure everyone in the city knows about the upcoming ban so there are no surprises. They will provide postcards and flyers to distribute to homeowners and landscape contractors; email info@quietcleanpdx.org to request copies or visit quietcleanpdx.org/take-action-eliminate-gas-leaf-blowers to find and download example notifications.
Image by cartoonist Andy Singer.
Good point about seniors, fixed income folks and mothers. Electric blowers have been improved and will continue to do so as per demand. I don’t like the either because I know they are an unnecessary machine that is in most cases not truly needed in our lives. The “need” for them was created for us by corporations that produce them are making a fortune off of their users. Before I was introduced to leaf-blowers in the past decade, I enjoyed living in a natural setting. I am a senior living in the dust, exhaust fumes, noise, and loss of habitat including birds due to gas-powered leaf blowers all around me, any day of the week, sometimes for over an hour each. I have observed them used by landscape workers to fill out an hour of pay as they walk around blowing back and forth. I cannot express the psychological nightmare many people have to all of this. The noise contributes to severe anxiety in my case, something I would like to avoid in my waning years. I know I am not alone in this. The exhaust fumes cover a lot of ground in the neighborhood, not just circulating around the yard they are used in. Add that to the knowledge that crucial habitat is being destroyed and climate chaos is exacerbated through this outdated energy mode (two-stroke gas engines). Children and pregnant women exposed to these machines, even if used nearby, are exposed to carcinogens and air-borne molds that affect the lungs. These death machines are everywhere and they are contributing to our disengagement with nature, the death of the planet and human life as well. People have lost the life-giving advantage of the exercise craved by the human body and the environment we live in is losing out as well. We would benefit greatly from leaving the leaves.
We have a battery blower. It takes multiple charges to clean our yard. I was wondering how landscapers will be able to do this. They’ll have to carry 10 or more batteries to do a days work and then spend all night charging them? Plus all these extra batteries going into landfill seems more harmful
Hi Linda. Yes people who do landscaping for a living will have a decision to make. Often times batteries and charging ports cost more than the actual blower itself. The most powerful electric backpack blower costs over $1400 right now for the unit, the batteries and the charger. This blower is equivalent to an entry level gas powered blower at four times the cost not to mention as you said all the batteries it will take to get through a work day. A small company that makes the switch could easily spend over $2000 to get on board with the new ordinance and larger companies could easily be out 10-20K or more if it wanted to buy the best electric blower on the market and provide the level of service that customers have gotten used to. Please keep in mind that equivalent power output by electric blowers produces the same amount of noise as it’s gas powered counterpart (comparing the electric EGO Commercial, 190 mph 56 V Battery Backpack Leaf Blower at 65 decibels and the Echo BP500 that blows 210 mph at 68 decibels) I wonder how much it will cost the city of Portland to make the switch and why they haven’t done it already, to lead by example. I’m sure they could get a lot of real time feedback this way.
Wondering how the folks who do a lot of yard and debris work will get the $$ to have new battery operated leaf blowers.
Good question, Jill. Hopefully they’ve anticipated this & found new equipment on sale (& pre-tariff). Or, using up remaining “end-of-year” funds now. Equipment breaks, wears out or becomes obsolete over time, so planning ahead for changes & costs like this is pretty normal. Apparently I misunderstood who’d be fined & thought it would be the equipment operator vs. property owner. I hope any offenders get with the program since it makes sense from so many points of view.
Hi Jill. They will have to pass the cost on to the customers who often times are seniors living on a fixed income or single women and mothers. Not only do electric blowers cost more but are not as powerful pound for pound or rather mph for mph power wise and are equally as loud. With that being said it will take longer to do the same job which is now expected by customers and even a few extra minutes per stop can ad up to weeks lost at the end of the year costing a small company thousands and a large company paying multiple employees many thousands.
Good point about seniors, fixed income folks and mothers. Electric blowers have been improved and will continue to do so as per demand. I don’t like the either because I know they are an unnecessary machine that is in most cases not truly needed in our lives. The “need” for them was created for us by corporations that produce them are making a fortune off of their users. Before I was introduced to leaf-blowers in the past decade, I enjoyed living in a natural setting. I am a senior living in the dust, exhaust fumes, noise, and loss of habitat including birds due to gas-powered leaf blowers all around me, any day of the week, sometimes for over an hour each. I have observed them used by landscape workers to fill out an hour of pay as they walk around blowing back and forth. I cannot express the psychological nightmare many people have to all of this. The noise contributes to severe anxiety in my case, something I would like to avoid in my waning years. I know I am not alone in this. The exhaust fumes cover a lot of ground in the neighborhood, not just circulating around the yard they are used in. Add that to the knowledge that crucial habitat is being destroyed and climate chaos is exacerbated through this outdated energy mode (two-stroke gas engines). Children and pregnant women exposed to these machines, even if used nearby, are exposed to carcinogens and air-borne molds that affect the lungs. These death machines are everywhere and they are contributing to our disengagement with nature, the death of the planet and human life as well. People have lost the life-giving advantage of the exercise craved by the human body and the environment we live in is losing out as well. We would benefit greatly from leaving the leaves.