The Portland City Council recently voted unanimously to approve the proposed ordinance to restrict use of gas-powered blowers.
The ordinance will take effect in Portland on Jan. 1, 2026 and will be in effect from January 1 – September 30. The ordinance will be expanded to a year-round prohibition in 2028.
This ordinance amends the Chapter 8 health code to phase out the use of gas handheld or backpack leaf blowers on public and private property within Portland beginning in 2026.
Commissioner Carmen Rubio brought the proposal forward and credited former commissioner, Nick Fish, who died of cancer in 2020, for advocating for the policy years ago.
“Gas leaf blowers emit toxic pollutants, particulate matter and noise that creates negative health impacts for people nearby,” said Rubio.
Although electric lawn equipment technology is rapidly advancing, the city of Portland said that it recognizes that electric leaf blowers are not yet powerful enough to practically move wet leaves during the winter season, so the use of gas leaf blowers will still be allowed from October to December.
Pacific Landscape Management’s Doug Crimin, Mauricio Flores and Adam Flint (through the Oregon Landscape Contractors Association) worked with the city and were able to get the seasonal exceptions for the first two years for fall leaf cleaning and were able to work in a clause that if the battery tech is still lacking or proving too challenging to fully adopt, that the 2028 date will be pushed and the seasonal exception would remain.
