Montgomery County Bans Loud Leaf Blowers

A story in today’s Washington Post (“A Growing Clamor Over Leaf Blowers: Autumn's Soundtrack Grates On Neighborhood Nerves”) explores the urban debate about leaf blowers’ noisy impact on neighborhoods. More city dwellers use the hot-selling tool, which contributes to community noise problems. Meanwhile, the manufacturers are striving to make the machines quieter.

Some excerpts:

Montgomery County bans the sale and use of leaf blowers generating more than 70 decibels, but most area jurisdictions seek to regulate them through general noise ordinances that restrict hours of use. Elsewhere, however, they are banned outright.

It is interesting that a 70 decibel leaf blower is banned in one place while 100+ decibel amplified speech is permitted for hours and hours in the District of Columbia.

"More people are working from home, and there just isn't an awareness of how badly detrimental noise can be as a factor in one's life..."

Read the complete story here.