Some NJ towns take aim at grating sound of gas

You rush over to the laptop in your home office, drop into your seat, and tap into a Teams or Zoom meeting. Inevitably, that's the cue for the neighbor's landscaping crew to show up. On go the leaf blowers. Those noisy, gas-powered leaf blowers.

It's spring, so they're roaring back into our neighborhoods.

Working at home every day because of the COVID-19 pandemic made people aware of many sounds they hadn't been around to notice before. In New Jersey, the pandemic-induced lifestyle brought debates about gas-powered leaf blowers to a head.

"You have a whole new population of people who are just around more," said Lois Kraus, who leads a statewide informal network called Advocates for Transforming Landscaping in New Jersey.

Several New Jersey municipalities have implemented or are considering ordinances that prohibit or limit the use of gas-powered leaf blowers and other two-stroke motor equipment, such as chainsaws and hedge trimmers. Nationwide, Washington, D.C. and California recently banned such equipment.

New Jersey legislators, including Assemblywoman Lisa Swain, D-Paramus, introduced three bills this session proposing bans or limits on the equipment.

The topic of gas-powered leaf blowers isn't new for Swain. She's "always been interested in saving our planet," and focused on environmental initiatives since the start of her 10-year tenure as the mayor of Fair Lawn. But increasingly noticeable noise pollution from some landscaping tools brought the issue back to the top of her mind.

Gas-powered leaf blowers aren't only loud and disruptive, Swain said, but they create a "quality of life issue." She introduced a bill that proposes an incentive program to motivate people to trade their two-stroke motor equipment for electric models, similar to programs that already exist for electric vehicles.

Beyond the noise issue, environmental advocates have the same concern about lawn equipment fueled by gas that they have about gas-powered cars. Both emit carbon, a fossil fuel that warms Earth's atmosphere, and they spew particulates into the air.

"We want to see where we can make changes so we can accomplish that goal of being a more sustainable planet," Swain said.

Emissions from some leaf blowers can also damage people's and pets’ health, which Kraus doesn't think enough people are aware of. The American Lung Association recommends electric leaf blowers because "old two-stroke engines … often have no pollution control devices."

That irritating noise disrupting your Zoom meetings can also damage hearing, regardless of distance.

A study found the equipment's sound produces strong low-frequency components, similar to bass on a tune cranked all the way up. This allows the sound waves to travel long distances and pass through walls and windows. This disproportionately impacts people who live in densely populated areas, as many do in New Jersey.

National perspectiveGas leaf blowers and lawn mowers are shockingly bad for the planet. Bans are beginning to spread.

The noise affects landscaping workers who stand closest to the equipment for many hours and days, something that concerned Nancy Adams, a township committeewoman in Maplewood.

She spearheaded efforts to ban gas-powered leaf blowers all year in the township. People who violate the ordinance may be charged fines up to $1,500. The ordinance went into effect on the first day of 2023 after local leaders tested the waters for six years with a partial ban.

Several New Jersey communities recently mirrored the latter restriction. Instead of completely prohibiting gas-powered leaf blowers, towns such as Montclair set specific annual timeframes when people can rev up this type of equipment. Since 2021 Montclair residents can use gas-powered or internal combustion leaf blowers from March 15 to May 15, and again from Oct. 15 to Dec. 15.

"We have long advocated for a year-round ban on their use, in favor of safer, greener, and quieter alternatives like using electric or manual equipment, mulch-mowing, and leaving some leaves in garden beds and under trees to nourish and protect the soil and to support natural habitat for beneficial insects and wildlife," said Peter Holm, the spokesperson for Quiet Montclair, a group dedicated to the issue of gas-powered leaf blowers.

Richard Goldstein, president of the New Jersey Landscape Contractors Association and his Oakland-based company Green Meadows Landscaping, said that limiting the use of gas-powered leaf blowers to certain times each year is "fair to everybody." The association has kept a close eye on the topic since at least 2017, when it sued Maplewood over its leaf blower ordinance.

At the time, the law prohibited only landscapers from using gas-powered leaf blowers. Two years after the group and nine landscapers filed a discrimination lawsuit, the township updated its ordinance language to bar private residents and non-commercial associations from using those tools as well.

Goldstein doesn't mind blowing snow or grass clippings off a driveway with an electric backpack blower. But he said it is "cost prohibitive" for landscapers to use electric tools all day in the spring and fall when they bag dozens of pounds of leaves each day.

Electric leaf blowers "aren't advanced enough — the batteries don't last," Goldstein said. "What it's really going to affect on the landscape side is your mom-and-pop companies won't be able to afford to retrofit their trucks to keep up with the demand."

Swain acknowledged technology needs to improve to make the switch to electric smoother for professional landscapers. They need chargers on their trucks, she said, to frequently recharge equipment.

For Goldstein, that raised another environmental concern. Many contractors, himself included, drive diesel trucks, which also emit chemicals and pollutants. They would need to run the vehicles often in order to keep electric equipment charged, he said.

Professional landscapers aren't the only New Jersey residents with qualms about restrictions on gas-powered leaf blowers. Some Facebook users griped about their town's ban barring them from purchasing a leaf blower on Jersey Powersports’ page.

So, what happens if someone in Maplewood, for example, opts to use their gas-powered leaf blower anyway? Adams, the committeewoman, doesn't want people to start policing their neighbors. But local leaders ask residents to submit photos of the person using a restricted tool and their license plate through the township's website. The town's code enforcement division will then send the user a citation.

As debates continue and ordinances to limit gas-powered leaf blowers face pushback, you might still hear that irritating whine during your next Zoom meeting. If you’re frustrated, consider some noise-canceling headphones. Or contact your elected officials to share your thoughts, Kraus said.