The new Rye City Council moved to ban gas leaf blowers during its first meeting of the year on Wednesday, January 7, 2026. The proposed law would ban gas leaf blowers entirely, effective May 1, 2026 and only permit battery operated blowers.
Currently, gas powered leaf blowers are allowed during seasonal clean-up periods in the spring (March 1 – April 30) and fall (October 1 – December 15). Enforcement has been difficult, and city officials said over 400 violations have been issued in the last three months alone. Many landscapers operate with impunity.
A public hearing on the new proposed is now scheduled for the next council meeting on January 28. The council attempted to advance a revised leaf blower law over the summer but could not agree and ultimately punted until now. With the new council controlled by the Democrats, it would be expected to see the new law adopted during this current push. Any dissention will likely come from the sole GOP member Keith Cunningham, and any landscapers or residents wed to their gas machines who show up at the public hearing later in the month.
Penalties for using gas powered leaf blowers will be increased to up to as much as $10,000 for a third infraction, and repeat offenders could be issued a court appearance ticket and could be “subject to subsequent court orders including civil forfeiture of property”.
The noise and pollution from gas powered leaf blowers have become a flashpoint in many communities due to noise, quality of life and environmental concerns. Nearby, Larchmont, White Plains, and the Village of Mamaroneck have all banned the use of gas powered leaf blowers. According to research released in December by NYPIRG, Environment America and the Quiet Clean Alliance (QCA), Westchester County ranks second in the State for emissions released by gas powered lawn equipment – over 143K tons of CO2, or the equivalent of emissions from 31K cars are emitted annually.
New York State is working on rebate incentives for landscapers to move away from gas to battery powered equipment. The rebate legislation sponsor in the Assembly is Rye-based State Assemblyman Steve Otis: “Commercial and institutional users of lawn equipment operate their landscaping machinery for a significant part of the day. Assisting those operators in the transition to electric equipment will have the greatest benefit for improving air quality. We should focus our efforts on providing incentives to these daily users of gas-powered equipment.”
