Legislation allowing local governments to regulate or ban the use of gas-powered leaf blowers is facing an uphill climb in the Virginia General Assembly.
A measure by Del. Rip Sullivan (D-6) was deferred until the 2027 session by a vote on Friday (Jan. 30) in the House Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns.
Still alive is companion legislation by Sen. Saddam Azlan Salim (D-37) that sits in the Senate Committee on Local Government, awaiting action.
If Salim’s bill passes the state Senate, it could still meet the same fate that Sullivan’s measure did in the House of Delegates — deferral for a year.
The legislation introduced by both lawmakers would allow, but not require, localities to prohibit or restrict the use of gas-powered leaf blowers.
The proposed measures would apply only to localities with at least 2,500 residents per square mile, a threshold Northern Virginia localities meet.
In the House, the issue was hashed out during a Jan. 29 meeting of a subcommittee of the Counties, Cities and Towns Committee. Speaking at the committee hearing, Sullivan said it was important to know what the measure would do — and would not do.
“It does not ban leaf blowers,” he said. “This bill simply allows localities to regulate leaf blowers if they decide to do so. It doesn’t tell localities to do anything.”
Margaret McKelvey, a member of Quiet Clean Northern Virginia, spoke in favor of Sullivan’s measure.
“Gas-powered leaf blowers are damaging our health and our environment,” she said. “It’s a problem that is particularly acute in the densely populated parts of the state.”
While McKelvey and other advocates supported the measure, the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, Virginia Manufacturers Association, Apartment and Office Building Association of Metropolitan Washington, and the Virginia Agribusiness Council were among the groups opposed to it.
“We believe this bill is the camel’s nose under the tent for the state to impose restrictions on other gas-powered equipment that our farmers and other rural Virginians rely on,” said Katelyn Jordan, representing the Farm Bureau.
After the speakers, Sullivan attempted to focus the subcommittee on what he said was a narrowly tailored piece of legislation.
“This is simply a local issue,” he said. “We ought to let localities decide it.”
The subcommittee opted to recommend holding the measure over for 2027. A day later, the full committee voted the same way, including the bill in a bloc of different legislation that will wait until next year for further consideration.
Last year, the Alexandria City Council voted to use its noise ordinance to ban gas-powered leaf blowers upon conclusion of an 18-month transition period. Other localities across Northern Virginia have been looking into the matter, coming to a variety of decisions.
Officials in Vienna recently voted down a proposal to further tighten regulations specifically around lawn equipment in the town’s noise ordinance.
Leaders in the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church have been hesitant in moving forward until the legality of full-on ban can be determined.
The Fairfax County government in recent years has been phasing out gas-powered leaf blowers in government operations, but has not taken steps to move forward on any major restrictions on the tools’ private use.
Tweaks to Herndon charter move forward
A measure giving the Herndon Town Council more flexibility in selecting future town managers has won approval in a House of Delegates’ committee.
The measure, patroned by Del. Irene Shin (D-8), would make several changes to the town charter, including the removal of a requirement that the town manager live within Herndon’s boundaries.
Instead, that decision would be left up to town council members as part of contract negotiations.
Shin’s measure passed 21-0 in a Jan. 30 vote of the Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns, which advanced it for consideration by the full House of Delegates.
The bill also clarifies that the Town Council has the power to appoint the town manager and town attorney, and establishes that the town manager has the authority to employ deputies or assistants for those two offices.
The bill also removes some outdated provisions, such as references to the Town of Herndon School Board, which operated until it was consolidated with the Fairfax County School Board in 1922.
Herndon Town Council members last September appointed Daniel Hoffman to serve as town manager. He succeeded Bill Ashton, who resigned in September 2024 to take a job in Stafford County.
Photo via Cbaile19/Wikimedia Commons
