An expanded Democratic majority in the Virginia House of Delegates could bode well for a revived bid to let local governments ban gas-powered leaf blowers.
When the General Assembly convenes this month, Del. Rip Sullivan (D-6) recently confirmed to FFXnow that he intends to reintroduce legislation authorizing localities to prohibit or regulate the machines after previous attempts faltered along party lines.
“Some of these issues become can become partisan. It baffles me as to why,” Sullivan said. “There’s nothing particularly Democratic or Republican about it, but in the past, it seems to have cleaved along partisan lines, which is unfortunate.”
Confusion or “misinformation” suggesting that the state was infringing on the authority of local governments by requiring them to ban gas leaf blowers, rather than merely giving them that option, might’ve also stymied past legislation, he added.
The roar of gas-powered leaf blowers has become a regular source of complaints in Northern Virginia’s suburban neighborhoods, including in Sullivan’s district covering McLean, Great Falls and Wolf Trap.
While Fairfax County is working to transition to electric blowers for government operations, Alexandria became the first jurisdiction in Virginia to pass a community-wide ban on the use of gas-powered leaf blowers. The city’s authority to implement a ban, which will take effect on Nov. 17, 2026, came from its charter and was affirmed by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares’s office, staff told the city council.
Fairfax City and Vienna leaders recently discussed regulating gas-powered leaf blowers or any noisy lawn equipment, in Vienna’s case, through their noise ordinances, but they both backed off making any immediate changes. In Fairfax City, staff suggested phasing out the devices in city operations and monitoring how Alexandria’s ban “shakes out,” while the Vienna Town Council decided their proposed limits needed a closer review.
Sullivan says he became concerned about gas-powered leaf blowers as a quality-of-life issue for his constituents, who should no longer have to deal with the noise and fumes when quieter, cleaner alternatives are available.
“They’re also a concern to not only the environment broadly — because these gas-powered leaf blowers throw off an awful lot of air pollution — but very specifically, they’re also very unhealthy for the people using them, whether that’s a homeowner, or someone who works for a local landscaping company using these things all day long,” he said.
Sullivan previously introduced a bill in the General Assembly’s 2024 session that would’ve broadly allowed localities to adopt ordinances prohibiting or regulating the use of gas-powered leaf blowers. Localities could include a civil penalty for violations, but the legislation didn’t specify the amount or other conditions of a fine.
That bill reached the House floor, but delegates later sent it back to the Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns, which let it die on Feb. 13, 2024 before crossover — the deadline for each legislative chamber to send bills to the other chamber.
The measure reemerged for the 2025 session in the state Senate, where it was sponsored by Sen. Saddam Salim (D-37), who represents Fairfax City and the Vienna/Tysons area. The only change to the text was the addition of language allowing localities to use any funds from civil penalties to help residents and businesses purchase electric-powered blowers.
Salim’s bill failed to advance out of the Senate Committee on Local Government.
As of press time, Sullivan hasn’t officially filed legislation for 2026 on gas-powered leaf blowers, but he says it will likely be “essentially the same” as the 2025 iteration. He has talked with Salim about whether they should narrow the legislation’s scope to more densely populated parts of Virginia.
“As you might expect, in areas that are much more remotely populated, at least the one concern having to do with the noise pollution … the impact on neighbors is reduced,” Sullivan said. “So, one could see an argument why a jurisdiction that’s less densely populated would be less interested in doing this.”
However, they haven’t settled yet on whether to include that provision, and Salim’s office told FFXnow that, as of Dec. 29, he hadn’t decided whether he’s going to carry the bill again in the state Senate, which caps the number of bills each member can introduce.
“As such, Senator Salim is being very strategic about which bills he introduces this year, but he notes this bill has been a priority of his over several years and has continued to improve,” Patrick Giallorenzo, Salim’s chief of staff, said.
Sullivan also hopes to tackle excessive vehicle exhaust noises in the coming session, which will begin next Tuesday, Jan. 13.
After a similar bill was vetoed last year by outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the delegate has filed legislation that will authorize certain counties and cities, including those in Northern Virginia, to use electronic noise monitoring systems to identify violations. Localities that implement a system would need to publicly report the number of violations prosecuted and how much money they’ve collected in fines, and the bill would expire on July 1, 2028.
Photo via Callum Hill on Unsplash
