Action in Fairfax County

Our Advocacy Since June, 2021

1. Our first project was in June, 2021. Carole Bausell created a petition to the Virginia General Assembly requesting that the Assembly grant local governments – counties, cities, and towns – the authority to ban or otherwise regulate the use and sale of gas-powered leaf blowers in their communities. Some QC NOVA members have been taking this petition to Farmer’s Markets, local festivals and other events. Having a petition in helps to better engage people in conversation rather than just handing them a flyer or factsheet

2. Over the summer of 2021, Quiet Clean NOVA met with Supervisor Alcorn (Hunter Mill) and Supervisor John Foust (Drainsville) asking that Fairfax County switch to electric leaf blowers on county property, and incentivize contractors working for the County to do likewise. Two QC NOVA members spoke before the Board of Supervisors in September to repeat that request. (In Arlington County, members asked the same of their County Board). And our advocacy paid off! In November, 2021, both County boards resolved to draw up plans to switch to electric leaf blowers on county property, and to launch an education outreach on the negative impacts of gas-powered leaf blowers. That said, we did not succeed in persuading either county board to include a request in their 2022 legislative package to state lawmakers for legislation to empower local governments to ban or regulate gas-powered leaf blowers. However, the City of Alexandria managed to pull this off in its legislative request package to Richmond.

• Unfortunately, in December we had a setback. Senator Favola , with regret, withdraw her sponsorship. Delegate Kory, however, continued to work on wording the bill. This effort was also ill-fated. At the last minute, Senator Saslaw(D) insisted on a highly watered down version of Kory’s bill – we could “regulate” but not ban or meaningfully restrict gas blowers. QC NOVA members hotly debated whether to accept or reject this lesser bill, but finally opted to support it. Debating the bill in the chambers would help raise awareness of the negatives of gas leaf blowers, and all other 2-stroke engines. And we could work to amend the bill the following year. However, the bill died in committee.
  
• Because of the present political climate, we didn’t try for a bill in 2022. The Democrats were more interested in preserving hard-won gains than on introducing new legislation. They are deep in defense mode. According to the Virginia Conservation Network (VCN), it’s keep REGGI, keep the Clean Economy Act, and keep the Clean Car Standards.

4. On August 17, 2022, a group of QC NOVA members in the City of Alexandria started a petition drive targeting the City Council with the following requests:

• a. develop a plan to phase out the use of gas-powered leaf blowers on City-maintained property;

• b. enforce the 2022 noise ordinance and/or enact other policies to discourage the use of gas leaf blowers in the City.

• The group presented the petition to the City Council in September, 2022, and have had conversations with council members about enforcing the noise ordinance. To date, November 13, 2022, the Council has refused to enforce any noise violations caused by landscape equipment.

• In November, 2022, the Alexandria group has been active in distributing Quiet Clean Virginia Foundation door hanger flyers advocating switching from gas to electric leaf blowers, or other mean of managing leaves. The door hanger displays a sticker asking people to contact the City Council about the noise ordinance. (The group has specifically ordered stickers to affix to the door hangers).

• One member this fall, 2022, contacted her HOA which is amenable to making the switch. The grounds committee is currently considering it. 

5.  List of Pilot Schools for Non-Fossil Fuel-Based Lawn Equipment

• FCPS is actively working on reducing its carbon footprint. To that end, the Office of Facilities Management (OFM) has begun a pilot to phase out its current inventory of gasoline powered lawn equipment and move to non-fossil fuel-based machines.

• As a first step, OFM has deployed battery powered blowers. The blower selected offered an increased CFM (air volume/speed) rating over the gas-operated units; additionally, the battery equipment offered a noise reduction to 59 decibels from 74 decibels. Blowers have been allocated to the following locations:

• A next step will include adding other battery powered equipment such as trimmers, mowers, clippers, etc. to these locations so it can be assessed in the fall and spring. 

• OFM will assess the units based on the following criteria:  Expected Useful Life (EUL) of the batteries, quantity of batteries required, durability of units, fuel savings, and impact on noise pollution. This assessment will be available to the School Board in June 2023.