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Gas-fueled leafblowers are an increasingly important issue in a lot of American communities, and many have responded by regulating their use or prohibiting them altogether.1
The primary issue with gas leafblowers is the noise and other air pollution produced by their outmoded and inefficient two-stroke engines,2 which burn a mixture of gasoline and oil, and are also used in most lawnmowers, weed trimmers, and other landscaping equipment.
The extremely loud noise (80+ decibels) that these motors produce is unhealthy for their operators — even wearing industrial-grade hearing protection — and those living and working nearby. Prolonged exposure to excessive sound levels can permanently damage people‘s hearing and cause other health problems.
In addition to noise, gas-burning leafblowers also emit a variety of carcinogenic and otherwise toxic components, including carbon monoxide, ozone-forming chemicals, dangerously small particulates known as PM2.5, and climate-altering gases in the form of carbon dioxide, and damage natural habitats.
For more information on the adverse effects of gas leafblowers, see our Leafblower Resources.
Leafblowers in Providence
Providence residents often cite gas leafblowers as a recurrent source of noise in their neighborhoods. In 2021, City Council members John Goncalves, Helen Anthony,3 and Nirva LaFortune proposed an amendment to the noise-control ordinance (Sec. 16–97) that would have moved leafblowers from a general category of noise-generating equipment to a dedicated section of the city’s municipal code, and limited their hours of use in residential areas:
Sec. 16-100. Leaf Blowers
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to use, at any time, a leafblower within any residential zone that has an average sound level exceeding 65 (65) dBA measured at or within the real property boundary of a receiving land use or when the same is audible to a person of reasonably sensitive hearing at a distance of two hundred (200) feet from its source.
(b) Leafblowers shall not be operated within the city between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 a.m.The amendment received a hearing in the Ordinance Committee, but was never brought up for a vote, and was subsequently ignored.
In late November 2024, Councilmembers Goncalves and Sue AnderBois finally introduced a new proposed ordinance under Providence’s “Health and Sanitation” code to phase out gas-fueled leafblowers by 2033. However, it does not even begin to regulate leafblowers until 2028 — an unnecessary and unconscionable delay.
Starting in 2028, the proposed ordinance would limit the use of gas leafblowers to a period from October 1 to December 15, and prohibit city employees and contractors from using them. Yet it doesn’t limit their use (as the proposed 2021 amendment did) within that period, prohibit the city from purchasing more gas blowers or restrict sales, or end their use for another five years after that.
In addition to seasonal restrictions, Providence residents have suggested other ways the city should address gas-leafblower noise and toxic pollution, including:
- Limiting the days of the week that gas-fueled leafblowers and similar equipment can be used, such as prohibiting their use on Sundays, state and federal holidays, and specific times of day.4
- Creating a directory of sustainable landscaping companies that use electric equipment instead of gas-burning tools, to help residents use quieter and healthier lawncare services.
- Prohibiting sales of gas-fueled leafblowers and other landscaping equipment — or all two-stroke engines, as some U.S. jurisdictions (most notably California) have done.
Leafblowers in RI
Several leafblower-related bills were introduced in the RI House and Senate in 2022, and a state-wide grassroots organization called Quiet Clean Rhode Island (QCRI) was created to coordinate public support for them. The Noise Project was a founding member of QCRI.
In 2024, the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources launched a new $250,000 rebate-driven incentive program to encourage recalcitrant RI landscaping companies5 to transition from gas-fueled leafblowers to quieter and cleaner electric models, to improve public health and meet the greenhouse-gas emissions-reduction targets outlined in the state’s 2021 Act on Climate.
Landscapers can receive $1,000 or 50% of the cost of an electric leafblower (whichever is less) and related batteries. Eligible businesses located in municipalities with high asthma rates — including Central Falls, Pawtucket, Providence, Westerly, and Woonsocket — can receive an additional $250.
We urge Providence residents who want to reduce noise and other air pollution to contact the City Council, their specific ward representative, and state policymakers to tell them the you support efforts to sunset gas leafblowers, and urge them to do so as well. Among the reasons you can cite:
- You have ears and lungs — Excessive noise adversely affects people’s health, whether they’re aware of it or not. The sound levels produced by most gas-fueled leafblowers already violate Providence municipal code (and in some neighborhoods are among the most prevalent sources of noise), although residents and landscaping companies that use them are rarely cited for it. City officials cannot continue to ignore a long-standing and ongoing source of unhealthy and unnecessarily noise as loud lawncare equipment.
- You care about public health and / or landscaping workers — Gas leafblowers produce toxic gases, particulates, and noise levels that are unhealthy for their operators and those living or working nearby. Most landscaping workers either don’t have proper masks or hearing protection or aren’t sufficiently trained to use them, and can suffer permanent health effects from their jobs. These preventable, long-term effects increase state and local healthcare costs.
- You live on the planet Earth — The emissions from inefficient two-stroke leafblower engines are disproportionately more damaging to the environment than car and truck exhausts. If we’re serious about addressing climate change and avoiding its worst effects, small-engine pollution must be curtailed, and other cities and states are already taking steps to do so.
- You care about the quality of life in Providence — Supporting restrictions on gas leafblowers is an opportunity to communicate to the mayor and City Council that residents want more decisive action to reduce noise levels, which public officials have ignored for far too long.
If you’d like to show your support for state and / or local legislation to regulate gas leafblowers,
please add your pledge here. If you’d like to help the Noise Project address the adverse effects of
leafblowers, please complete our Volunteer form and select ‘Commercial noise’ as your interest.
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1 In 1975, the small northern California community of Carmel — where Clint Eastwood served as mayor for two years in the mid-1980s — became the first U.S. municipality to ban gas leafblowers. In 2024, California prohibited the sale of all new two-stroke engines.
2 A two-stroke, gas-burning leafblower emits 23 times the amount of carbon monoxide and nearly 300 times the amount of non-methane hydrocarbons as a pickup truck, which has a catalytic converter to reduce its combustion emissions. This disparity will only increase as more people switch to electric vehicles.
3 In an April 2021 newsletter, Councilmember Anthony cited leafblowers as one of the three top noise sources she receives the most complaints about. (The other two were fireworks and ATVs, which the city responded to with formal initiatives.)
4 The standard distance for measuring leafblower noise is 50 feet, but due to the housing density in Providence they are often used much closer to adjacent property. Prohibiting leafblower use on Sundays would allow people to enjoy their homes and backyards for at least one day every weekend. And given that they’re used on fallen leaves, they’re not needed in summer or winter.
5 The program specifically excludes “residents, non-profit organizations, and government entities” from eligibility.