The grass is growing, the trees are budding, and pollen is present in Massachusetts. It's the beginning of lawn maintenance season in the bay state and that means noisy gas powered machinery. Or not. One municipality in Massachusetts has called it quits on the leaf blowers.

Gas Powered Leaf Blowers Banned In This Mass. City

Under the updated Leaf Blower Ordinance passed by the Cambridge City Council in December 2023, property owners will no longer be allowed to use gas-powered leaf blowers on their own property after March 15, 2025. -cambridgema.gov

Slater Townsquare Media Berkshire

Cambridge

Effective now, Cambridge, MA has banned gas powered leaf blowers in order to curb noise pollutions and harmful emissions. This ban is only for residential use as commercial use has one more year to comply and figure a plan.

Commercial leaf blower operators, multi-parcel owners (adjoining parcels of land owned by the same owner and totaling two or more acres), city employees, and city contractors will be allowed to continue using gas-powered leaf blowers until March 15, 2026, providing additional time to transition to the more sustainable alternatives.

Lexington

The opposite is true for Lexington where commercial use of gas powered leaf blowers is illegal and the residents have until March of 2026 to switch over to a battery operated one.

There is no statewide ban of gas powered leaf blowers in Massachusetts thus far. Cities and towns can construct their own bylaws. This allows towns to tailor rules to local needs, resulting in a patchwork of bans and restrictions. -lawnstarter.com

Winchester, Swampscott, Lincoln, Newton, Brookline, Marblehead, and Concord all have rules in place when it comes to gas powered leaf blowers.

How loud is a leaf blower?

To the operator, gas powered leaf blowers produce 80-100 decibels of sound, to someone 50 feet away, 65-80 db.

Battery powered leaf blowers produce 60-80 to the operator and 45-60 to someone who is 50 feet away. High risk hearing damage begins at around 85 db for prolonged periods of time.

Environmental risk

According to MassPIRG, lawn equipment emitted 615,000 tons of CO2 in Massachusetts in 2020, equivalent to 135,000 cars. Gas-powered blowers also stir up pollen, mold, and chemicals, exacerbating health risks.

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