Leaf Blower Regulations

• Leaf blowers move huge quantities of debris very fast.leaf blower image by Horticulture from Fotolia.com
  
  A leaf blower is a piece of portable equipment, usually handheld or carried in a backpack and powered by electricity or fuel, used to move leaves and other types of debris from hard surfaces like brick or cement walkways, patios and lawns. Leaf blowers are mainly used by landscape maintenance professionals to remove large quantities of leaves which would take much longer to clear off with rakes and brooms, especially in the fall when trees shed a lot of leaves. However, leaf blowers are subject to a lot of regulations which, although they vary from state to state, have certain main concerns.
  
  

Noise

• Leaf blowers generate a lot of noise.blower image by Horticulture from Fotolia.com
  
  Even though professional maintenance crews are the main users of leaf blowers, there are a good number of private homeowners who also use consumer-grade leaf blowers. This has led to the increase in the number of leaf blowers in use, and, consequently, an increase in the level of noise pollution from leaf blowers. Indeed, noise is the most obvious problem associated with leaf blowers. When leaf blowers were first introduced, the noise from them averaged 78 decibels. Now more modern leaf blowers average 65 decibels or lower, which is considered a more acceptable noise level in most US cities and municipalities. There are local rules which limit leaf blower use due to the loud noise they generate. Generally, the use of leaf blowers at night is not be permitted in all residential land use zones. The city of Portland has a city code which limits daytime use of leaf blowers to between 7am and 7pm in residential zones. Other zones are limited to between 7am and 9pm.
  
  

Emmisions

• Leaf blowers are powered by engines which produce emissions that are harmful to people and to the environment. According to a report by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), leaf blowers are an obvious source of particulate matter (PM) emissions. PM emissions are particularly harmful because they are man-made and the body has no immunity for them. Unburned hydrocarbons which are emitted from leaf blowers are of much concern because unburned hydrocarbons are responsible for the formation of ozone in the lower atmosphere. The EPA has been steadily introducing regulations requiring manufacturers to produce more efficient engines and has a target of reducing the level of emissions from these small engines to about 37 HC (hydro carbon) eventually.
  
  

Number of Leaf blowers per Square foot.

• There are local regulations guiding acceptable number of leaf blowers per square foot.leaf image by Paul Troop from Fotolia.com
  
  There are different regulations on the number of leaf blowers which may be used at a location at any given time. The city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, for example, limits the number of leaf blowers which may be used to one for every 10,000 square-foot area.