Bill phasing out sale, use of gas-powered leaf blowers in Montgomery County signed into law
ROCKVILLE, Md. - A bill phasing out the sale and use of gas-powered leaf blowers and leaf vacuums in Montgomery County has been signed into law.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich signed Bill 1822 into law on Monday.
This new law will phase out the sale and use of gas-powered leaf blowers and leaf vacuums.
"This transition is going to improve our community," Elrich said. "It’s going to protect workers from harmful emissions and noise. It’s going to reduce noise pollution in the community. It’s going to reduce fossil fuel consumption and it’s going to create a healthier environment for all."
The bill will prohibit the sale of handheld, backpack, and walk-behind gas-powered leaf blowers and leaf vacuums starting July 1, 2024. Usage will be prohibited beginning July 1, 2025.
County officials said the next step is to authorize a rebate program to begin on July 1, 2024. It is expected to run through Dec. 2026 to partially offset the cost of replacing a gas-powered leaf blower or leaf vacuum with an electric leaf blower or leaf vacuum.
"It is the environmentally correct thing to do," said Montgomery Council president Evan Glass. "It is worker friendly thing to do, and it keeps our community a quieter, more workable place as so many residents continue working from home and many of us take Zoom meetings all the time."
The measure was tabled in March 2023 and then brought up for a vote in September 2023. It passed by a vote of 10 to 1, with Councilmember Gabe Albornoz voting against it.
"Commercial electric leaf blowers cost about three times as much as gas-powered leaf blowers and don’t work nearly as much," Councilman Albornoz said. "While the industry is catching up quickly, it is not quite there yet. But this is going to upend our landscaping industry and make it very difficult to have them carry out their very important work."
Albornoz mentioned the formation of the bill was also concerning, as he and others have questions about how it will affect the landscaping industry.
"We are still learning how it’s impacting the District of Columbia," he said. "Their bill just went into effect a year ago, so I think the wiser thing would have been to ban the sale and provide the voucher program but wait to see how making these products illegal has impacted their operations in D.C.."
According to Montgomery County officials, there is an exemption for the use of gas leaf-blower equipment for agricultural producers.
Councilmember Kate Stewart called the bill a "win-win."
"When we look at, as people have talked about us addressing our climate change goals, addressing health issues for our workers and reducing the noise pollution here in our county. That’s what we are doing with this legislation," Stewart said.
Montgomery County’s Dept. of Environmental Protection said it will work with local landscape businesses and independent landscapers to help implement this transition.