Portland passes ban on gas-powered leaf blowers, starting in 2026
PORTLAND, Ore. (KGW/KTVZ) — The Portland City Council has unanimously passed an ordinance that will ban the use of gas-powered leaf blowers on all public and private property, KGW reports. The ban takes effect in January 2026, although gas leaf blowers will still be permitted during the months of October, November and December for the first two years.
Starting in 2028, the ban will apply year-round. Violators will receive a warning the first time, followed by fines that step up from $250 to $500 and then $1,000 for subsequent violations.
The ordinance is intended to cut down on negative health impacts caused by noise and air pollution from gas-powered leaf blowers — impacts that tend to fall disproportionately on maintenance and landscaping workers. City code already bans leaf blowers louder than 65 decibels when heard from 50 feet away, but it didn't previously restrict their power sources.
The city opted to phase in the new ordinance on a seasonal basis for the first two years because current electric leaf blowers are not yet powerful enough to keep up with the wet leaves that pile up on Portland's streets and yards in the fall and early winter, according to a staff summary.
The city released the draft ordinance for public review back in January, and 86% of the people who commented were in favor of the ban, with many calling for the phase-in period to be shorter, according to the city's summary.
"Gas leaf blowers emit toxic pollutants, particulate matter, and noise that creates negative health impacts for people nearby," Commissioner Carmen Rubio, who introduced the ordinance, said in a statement after the vote. "This policy is the culmination of many years of hard work and advocacy to make Portland a healthier and cleaner place to live."
Portland first passed an ordinance in late 2019 directing city bureaus to begin transitioning away from gas-powered leaf blowers, and in 2022 and 2023 the city and Multnomah County convened a leaf blower work group that ultimately recommended the ban. Multnomah County passed its own phase-out plan in 2021, set to take full effect in 2025.
Electric leaf blowers need less maintenance and don't have to be refilled with gas, making them cheaper to operate in the long run, but they're more expensive to buy up front, and the city and county plan to develop incentives to offset costs for small landscaping businesses that would have a hard time affording the upgrade.
Portland Parks and Recreation will need to spend somewhere between $942,000 and $1.6 million to upgrade all of its leaf blowers to electric models and install any additional infrastructure needed to run them, according to the city summary, and the money will likely come from the Portland Clean Energy and Community Benefits Fund.
During Wednesday's council meeting, Rubio and Mayor Ted Wheeler both credited the late Commissioner Nick Fish for the original 2019 ordinance and for starting the push that led to the ban.
"When this was a very controversial issue — and it still is, let's not kid ourselves — but it was a very controversial issue, and Nick was ready to take this one all the way to the mat to see it through," Wheeler said. "From his perspective, I remember him saying that the trade-off wasn't worth it; the efficiency trade-off was not worth the costs to the community. And that rang true with me then. It certainly rings true with me now as the technology continues to improve.
