Fairfax County to phase out gas-powered leaf blowers
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| Gas-powered leaf blowers [Quiet Clean NOVA] |
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has approved a measure to phase out the county’s use of gas-powered leaf blowers.
The measure also calls for updating Fairfax County’s procurement process to incentivize electric leaf blowers by landscape contractors working for the county.
“The outdated two-stroke engines typically used to power leaf blowers emit nearly 300 times the amount of hydrocarbons as a Ford F-150 truck and contribute to smog-forming ozone,” says Supervisor James Walkinshaw (Braddock), who introduced the measure with Board Chair Jeff McKay and supervisor Walter Alcorn (Hunter Mill) and Dan Storck (Mount Vernon).
Walkinshaw says “Gas-powered leaf blowers produce noise levels ranging from 102 to 115 decibels, far higher than the 75 to 85 decibels at which noise exposure can cause hearing damage, according to the EPA.”
While the Fairfax County measure only applies to the use of gas-powered leaf blowers on county property, jurisdictions around the U.S. are banning the sale or use of this equipment by the public, including the D.C. government; the state of California; Portland, Ore.; Montclair, N.J.; Brookline, Mass.; Chevy Chase Village, Md.; and many more.
Landscaping companies are fighting the bans, arguing that gas-powered blowers are more efficient and less expensive than electric alternatives.
An advocacy group called Quiet Clean NOVA seeks to ban gas-powered leaf blowers because their loud noise disturbs the peace, they emit toxic chemicals into the air, cause hearing loss in low-wage workers, and contribute to climate change.
Quiet Clean NOVA urges Virginia residents to sign a petition calling for the Virginia General Assembly to grant local governments the authority to ban gas-powered leaf blowers.
“Granting this authority is a first step toward the goal of making our state quieter, cleaner, healthier, and more livable for those who reside and work here by protecting them from high-decibel noise and dangerous pollution,” the petition states.
34 responses to “Fairfax County to phase out gas-powered leaf blowers”
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Fine for the county to stop using gas leaf blowers, but hell if I ever sign that petition. Every damn time I see people complain on nextdoor about gas powered lawn equipment I think about what kind of next level first world complaining people are doing.
I wonder why you think pollution and global warming is just a "first world" problem.
Most of the time the complaints on nextdoor are centered on noise, not pollution. They make the same complaints about 4 stroke gas powered lawnmowers and the desire to abolish them too.
Most people who use the blowers use ear protection. Those that don’t are idiots who don’t read the manual and clear markings on the devices that indicate ear protection should be used.
Regarding pollution- please. There are so many bigger fish to fry than this. Climate change absolutely is problem that must be tackled with rigor, but it’s going to be a hard argument to suggest that my 1 use per year (fall leaf cleanup) 2 cycle leaf blower, which uses at most a half gallon of gas – emits 300x the amount of hydrocarbons as a pickup truck that is used daily and goes through untold thousands of gallons per year.
10/10 Jeff. 50cc @ 300 times the emission used for maybe 2 hrs a year != 400cc used daily year round.
Jeff-
So your position is that we should not fix the things we can because we can't fix the things we can't? And the inconvenience to your once a year use is like saying you should be allowed to drive drunk once per year because it is only once??
Dear Jeff- here is why gas powered leaf blowers need to be banned ASAP: they a serious public nuisance. They are extremely loud, the noise goes far beyond the property where they are deployed, and they pollute a heck of alot. BTW, did you know that rake is better, it costs almost nothing, its silent, and it wont pollute.
……….when gas leaf blowers are finally banned we will all be able to enjoy being outdoors. I'm tired of having to run indoors to get away from from disgusting gas leaf blowers pollution and noise.
@herschel53: my position is the citizenry has a limited tolerance to government interference with their lives. If the government is going to make regulations that affect residents, they really should be measured for biggest impact for the intended effect, and such regulations should be analyzed for unintended side effects.
As others have noted, a very likely side effect here is that contractors will simply bring around gas generators and run them to either charge batteries or run corded blowers. You still have the noise and pollution, and now you have extra cost.
So then are you going to ban gas generators? That has all kinds of impacts across a bunch of industries, and is honestly not something we will be in a position to do for some time – a decade or more.
In the meantime, you are imposing limitations on what private residents can and can’t do on their private property that has very little real world impact at the end of the day.
I’d be interested in an opinion poll on this kind of topic. while this is specific to leaf blowers, the true intention of this group is clear: they want to ban all gas powered lawn equipment usage by contractors and/or private individuals. That means no gas leaf blowers, no gas lawn mowers, no gas weedwackers. I can’t imagine this idea gets more than 10-15% support.
If this were to be seriously pushed by democrats I can guarantee serious electoral pushback similar to what we just saw with the statewide elections. So, then we’d end up with republicans in charge…. and we know how good republicans are on environmental issues (especially with Trump-era GOP and “let’s make coal great again”). How does that serve climate change?
Jeff,
The proposed ban applies ONLY to landscape contractors retained by Fairfax County Government and operating on county-owned property. You are free to continue to use a 2-stroke blower on your property, if you like. The proposed ban in no way affects you. So why the hell are you complaining?
Try re-reading the thread and see if you can answer your own question, @Anonymous.
I said right out of the gate that I was fine with whatever the county wanted to do on its property. I took issue with the advocacy group's petition and efforts to ban gas powered lawn equipment by private individuals on their own property. That is where the discussion is centered.
Once again the BOS can't do anything real or meaningful like land use, illegal boarding houses, yard waste pickup, etc. but they sure can pass measures like this useless garbage. And then pat themselves on the back for a job well done.
So you enjoy hearing the deafening noise and inhaling the harmful fumes from gas-powered leaf blowers? Or do you just never go outside?
I am looking for the petition to phase out liberal lunatics.
And thoughtless, selfish, right-wing nut jobs.
This is a very positive step by the BOS! It's such a simple thing to do, but will make a huge difference in the amount of pollution and noise created on county property. Hopefully, it will also encourage landscapers to switch to far less harmful electric blowers.
I am glad to hear about the ban. I am also glad to hear that people who use gas-powered leaf blowers are damaging their hearing and breathing in toxic levels of hydrocarbons.
OK. Once they get rid of the blowers (and the lawn mowers) I can see many contractors bringing gas generators to the jobs!
Dear Fairfax County Board of Supervisors,
Thank you for your vote to phase out the use of these loud filthy engines….
…Ending the use of gas blowers will help combat climate change, curtail air pollution, and restore peace and quiet to our neighborhoods which in the fall turn into zones of loud industrial noise and stinky fumes.
Sincerely,
Avril Garland,
The most telling part of the article is who else is doing this – California, DC, Portland Oregon, etc. The BOS just wants to join the "woke" group. By the way, does Fairfax County actually clean up anything? They can't pick up yard waste, recycle glass from our houses, or enforce zoning regulations. Nice to know they have found something they can mandate so they can feel good about themselves.
This is an unfortunate perspective. Eliminating these antiquated, unnecessary machines is an easy step towards reducing noise and air pollution in the county. It's a no-brainer and should be completely non-partisan.
Regarding recycling you are absolutely right, and it's not just Fairfax County but the country as a whole. Our recycling abilities and capacities are abysmal compared to our peers. If we want to be serious about the environment we need to invest in better recycling technology. More importantly, we need to overcome our extremely wasteful cultural tendencies. This would be a great step forward in taking climate change as seriously as others on the world stage.
This is a great step. These machines generate way too much noise and air pollution for the job they do. Switching to electric leaf blowers is low hanging fruit that the BOS is smart to grab.
The US Department of Transportation says gas-powered lawn and garden tools (mowers, blowers, edgers, trimmers, etc) consume nearly 3 billion gallons of gasoline a year. Using an EPA calculate, that means they generate as much greenhouse gas emissions as the energy usage of 3.2 million homes annually. That's a lot! If we're ever going to get a handle on climate change, we should start with things like gas-powered leaf blowers and other lawn and garden tools for which there are electric (battery) alternatives. The battery-powered leaf blowers are definitely less noisy. Consumer Reports in September said all the gas-powered leaf blowers they tested measured 85 decibels or HIGHER. 85 decibels is the threshold where hearing damage occurs, according to the World Health Organizations. All the battery-powered blowers Consumer Reports tested measured BELOW 85 decibels. Last month, California passed a law that would ban the sale of all gas-powered lawn and garden equipment statewide beginning in 2024. Gas-powered lawn and garden equipment this year surpassed cars as the chief source of smog-forming pollutants in California. Northern Virginia is a non attainment area for smog.
Thank you! to the Board of Supervisors for taking this step. A prior commenter said the noise & pollution of gas-powered leaf blowers is a first-world problem, and I guess that's true. However the obnoxious and unnecessary noise of blowers and other gasoline engines is a major determinant of quality of life here in FFX County. Just because we're fortunate enough to live here doesn't mean we shouldn't take action to solve problems. I'm proud that the BOS is being proactive on this one.
I am excited to read about this new initiative on county properties. It will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it will improve the health of landscape workers, and it may cause all of us to be more aware of how the leaves from our trees fit into a healthy ecosystem and natural cycle. If our landscape companies follow the county's lead, our neighborhoods will get the same benefits and certainly will be quieter! What a delight.
Your noise ratings are way off base. Gas powered back pack blowers have ratings as low as 64 decibels. Two cycle pollution has been reduced by 90% over the last twenty years. Your numbers are outdated and biased.
I've been using electric battery powered lawn mower and leaf blower for years. Greenworks pro 80v series, they get the job done well and require no maintenance unlike gas powered lawn mowers where you have to replace the spark plugs and oil. You just need to keep the blade sharp. It does the job well, it's much quieter, and better for the environment. It's time to get with the times and stop polluting the earth with smog and noise, and get with more efficient electric tools. The blower I have works very well and is strong, the perception that electric tools are weak is outdated, electric tools work well and require a lot less maintenance than their gas counterparts, and won't wake your neighbors up when they take a nap, we can all get around that.
I have the same lawn equipment. I am angered when I am bothered by noisy, smelly, and unnecessary gas-powered lawn equipment. I didn't realize how quiet battery-powered lawn tools are compared to their gas counterparts.
The board should really ban any powered lawn care for commercial use. If we really want to decrease unemployment and stop emissions, manual labor is the best solution. As mentioned, the rake for fall leaf cleanup. For cutting lawns, push rotary mowers. Making everything electric just pushes the emissions and dependence to the power grid. Where is all this electricity coming from? Power plants. What are they using to produce the power? Fossil fuels. So, let's address actually eliminating the need for the power, get people off their buts, exercise doing work instead of your peloton and really get outdoors.
With the recent record run up in housing prices and subsequent increase in county real estate tax coffers, why not offer a rebate for electric robotic lawn mowers, electric leaf blowers and mowers?
As a landscaper, I am fine with the change to electric. I know… it means the purchase of multiple battery packs, as well as the cost of charging those packs 6 days a week. Whose gonna pay for that? I don't even have a problem using a rake, as one person stated. Yes, let's clean this place up!
Oh, my rates just drastically changed, as well. Sorry, but it DOES roll downhill. ?
It is fine with me if your rates increase. Things that degrade the general quality of life should be discouraged.
I honestly care less about the environmental pollution and more about the noise pollution. How about we just tighten up the noise ordinance to disallow lawn care equipment that makes this much noise?
Can't help with the noise but if you use an Alkylate fuel like Aspen you are using a fuel with 96% less hydrocarbons than standard pump fuel. It is sold in your county a a few outdoor power equipment dealers. They have been using it in Europe for 32 years.