Use of gas-powered leaf blowers will be illegal in Montgomery County starting July 1, but a new bill could provide an exemption for qualifying professional landscapers.
The County Council passed legislation in 2023 banning the use and sale of gas-powered leaf blowers. A ban on sales took effect July 1, 2024, and a ban on use of the equipment will go into effect July 1. Councilmember Gabe Albornoz (D-At-large), the sole councilmember to vote against the 2023 bill, introduced a bill Tuesday to provide an exemption to the county’s upcoming ban on gas-powered leaf blowers.
“I’ve had the opportunity … to visit with landscaping professionals over the last several months, and it has been made very clear to me that these landscaping professionals are not in a position to be able to comply with the law as passed,” Albornoz said when introducing the bill during Tuesday’s council meeting.
The bill has co-sponsoring support from councilmembers Marilyn Balcombe (D-Dist. 2), Sidney Katz (D-Dist. 3) and Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7).
The 2023 legislation is considered a noise ordinance and an environmental protection measure. Those who violate the ban will be fined $500 for a first offense, and $750 for repeat offenses. Councilmembers have said the county will initially focus mostly on education about the ban instead of issuing fines to offenders during the months after the ban takes effect.
Albornoz’s bill would provide an exemption to the ban to allow landscape professionals to use gas-powered leaf blower equipment during certain months of the year. The goal of the exemption, according to the legislative staff report, is to allow qualifying professional landscapers more time to use gas-powered leaf blowers due to the limitations and expense of battery-powered leaf blowers.
“People’s disposable incomes have gone down. [Contract] renewals are significantly down, and the fall season is the busiest for these landscaping professionals,” Albornoz said. “And as we have seen, in some part because of tariffs, the cost of electric commercial powered leaf blowers was already expensive and is now even more so.
The 2023 bill was controversial, with years of debate and legislative changes made by councilmembers before its eventual passage. While environmental advocates and residents concerned about neighborhood noise praised the move, some farmers and professional landscapers voiced concerns that the ban would complicate their work.
Following the 2024 ban on sales, the county instituted a rebate program for leaf blower owners. Businesses and residents with a Montgomery County street address are eligible for the rebate program to purchase an approved leaf blower without having to trade in a leaf blower. Under the rebate program, landscapers with revenue less than $250,000 annually or five or fewer employees can receive up to $1,500 in a year. Landscapers with revenue of more than $250,000 or six or more employees can receive up to $1,000 in a year. Residents can receive up to $100 for one rebate. More information is available on the county government’s website.
The use ban exemption proposed by Albornoz would exclusively apply to qualifying professional landscaping companies for use of gas-powered leaf blowers between Oct. 1 and Dec. 31, limiting use to weekdays between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. The legislation would have a sunset date in 2028.
Albornoz said he sees the legislation as a “common sense” way to give landscaping professionals a longer time to adjust equipment and comply with the law without hurting their businesses.
“This helps set everybody up for success, and is in the spirit of what we were trying to achieve with the bill in the first place,” Albornoz said.
A public hearing on the legislation is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on July 15 during the council’s regular business meeting in Rockville.