Massachusetts Towns Ban Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers

Fall is the best time of the year to live in, or visit Massachusetts. Warm days and cool nights, breathtaking fall foliage, apple orchards and pumpkin patches, and amazing seasonal farm-to-table cuisine. In Autumn, you can't ask for much more.

Besides the picturesque weather, the fall season also means it's time to get your lawn ready for winter, and for most Massachusetts residents, that means taking care of all those leaves. While some people loathe the work, some folks love working in the yard.

Regardless of whether you hate or love lawn care, some communities in Massachusetts are changing regulations surrounding what you can use to take care of your lawn. We're talking about gas-powered leaf blowers.

While there are no state-wide regulations banning gas-powered leafblowers, there are a growing number of Massachusetts cities and towns placing local restrictions on the motorized lawn care tools.

11 Massachusetts Cities and Towns Ban Gas-Powered Leaf Blowers

According to MassPIRG (Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group) "lawn and garden equipment produced roughly 615,000 tons of carbon dioxide in Massachusetts in 2020, comparable to the pollution emitted by 135,000 automobiles." Research also shows that jets on leaf blowers can stir up pollen, mold, animal feces, heavy metals, and chemicals like herbicides and pesticides.

While pollution from this equipment is the number one concern for folks in the state, the noise pollution from gas-powered leaf blowers is also a concern as units can create noise up to 100 decibels.

The following Massachusetts towns currently have some form of gas-powered leaf blower regulations:

• Arlington
• Belmont
• Brookline
• Cambridge
• Concord
• Lexington
• Lincoln
• Marblehead
• Newton
• Swampscott
• Winchester

Not all bans are set in stone, however. Swampscott only prohibits gas-powered blowers on Memorial Day through Labor, covering the summer months. Lexington, Belmont, Arlington, and Concord bans start in 2026.