Since 2018 Quiet Clean PDX has been meeting with and bringing together elected officials, concerned residents, landscape contractors, public health experts, air quality officials, noise experts, ecological landscapers, and social and environmental justice organizations to pass legislation that will protect landscape workers, residents and the environment from the harms caused by gas-powered leaf blowers. We have worked closely with policy makers at every level in Oregon, and are deeply appreciative of their efforts. An equitable transition away from gas-powered equipment requires a collaborative effort with all voices at the table.
Listed below are our key accomplishments and activities.
2024
Ordinance 191653 passed by Portland City Council! Will phase out gas-powered leaf blowers city-wide.
This landmark ordinance passed unanimously at the Council’s March 13th meeting. Starting January 2026, gas leaf blowers will be prohibited 9 months of the year (allowed only in fall), and starting January 2028 they will be fully banned year-round.
See details and testimonies here:
- Equitable gas leaf blower phase-out (Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability)
- Testimonies and public comments
- History of policy efforts to phase out gas-powered leaf blowers in Portland (Quiet Clean PDX)
Read local reporting on the ordinance:
- The Oregonian: Ban on gas leaf blowers passed in Portland; gradual phase-out begins in 2026
- Readers respond: Leaf-blower ban means a healthier Portland
- Portland Tribune: Portland council votes to ban gas-powered leaf blowers
- Portland Mercury: Loud, polluting leaf blowers are on their way out of Portland
- KOIN News: Portland City Council unanimously bans gas-powered leaf blowers
- KOIN News Video
- KGW/KTVZ: Portland passes ban on gas-powered leaf blowers starting in 2026
- KATU: Portland City Council bans use of gas-powered leaf blowers
- Oregon Public Broadcasting: Portland will ban all gas-powered leaf blowers by 2028
- Multnomah County: County will help small businesses impacted by Portland gas leaf blower ban
2023
Oregon House Bill 2970 and Senate Bill 525
Rep. Courtney Neron and Sen. Michael Dembrow introduced companion bills in the House and Senate that would allow Oregon to adopt California’s zero-emission standard for small non-road engines, which includes most lawn & garden equipment. These bills also direct DEQ to establish a program to incentivize the purchase by businesses of zero-emission small nonroad equipment, with priority given to small businesses.
Oregon LC 2968 (House) and LC 1960 (Senate)
Rep. Courtney Neron and Sen. Michael Dembrow planned introduce these companion bills (see description below, under “Oregon Pre-session Bills”), but opted instead to introduce the two bills above (HB 2970 and SB 525) when the opportunity arose to emulate California’s newly adopted AB 1346 banning the sale of all small nonroad engines statewide.
Advanced by the Oregon Landscape Contractors Association, this bill if passed would have allowed an income or corporate excise tax credit of 50% for purchase of commercial-grade battery-powered leaf blowers and related equipment. It applied to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2024, and before January 1, 2030. The bill was heard in the House Committee on Climate, Energy and Environment, but failed to progress.
2022
Oregon Pre-session Bills
Rep. Courtney Neron and Sen. Michael Dembrow prepared companion bills LC 2968 (House) and LC 1960 (Senate) for the 2023 session, and introduced them “pre-session.” The bills would phase out gas-powered leaf blowers from areas within Urban Growth Boundaries with populations greater than 300,000. QCPDX worked to help shape these bills in coordination with Multnomah County.
Portland-Multnomah County Leaf Blowers Policy Working Group
In Spring 2022, County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson and City Commissioner Carmen Rubio convened a joint city-county Leaf Blowers Policy Working Group comprised of staff from both government entities and key stakeholders. The group met three times during the year and produced a comprehensive report that included a set of recommendations for phasing out gas-powered leaf blowers county-wide. The report was sent to County Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson and City Commissioner Carmen Rubio on December 9, 2022.
2021
Multnomah County Resolution 2021-094
On Dec. 16, 2021, after hearing testimonies from QCPDX and its supporters, County Commissioners approved a resolution expressing support for convening a work group with the City of Portland to consider an equitable, community-wide phase-out strategy for gas powered leaf blowers, and for accelerating the county’s own transition away from the use of these tools at county facilities.
We worked with Rep. Barbara Smith Warner (chief sponsor) to introduce a bill in the 2021 legislative session prohibiting the sale or use of gas-powered leaf blowers inside any Oregon Urban Growth Boundary (UGB) with a population of 300,000 or more. (This would initially apply only to Portland, where over 50% of gas leaf blower use in Oregon takes place.) HB 3023 received an informational hearing in the House Committee on Energy and Environment but unfortunately died in committee due to the sheer volume of urgent and backlogged legislation. See FAQs about the bill.
2019
Portland City Council Resolution No. 37463
As a result of our advocacy, in December 2019 the City Council passed a resolution directing City bureaus to transition from gas-powered to electric or battery-operated leaf blowers. It also called for the formation of a work group to consider a city-wide transition to electric and battery-operated leaf blowers and manual tools. The bill was sponsored by the late Commissioner Nick Fish.
We worked with Representative Alissa Keny-Guyer, and Senators Michael Dembrow and Shemia Fagan to introduce a bill in the 2019 legislative session prohibiting the use or sale of gas-powered leaf blowers in Oregon. HB 3350 received an informational meeting in the House Committee on Energy and Environment but then died in committee.