Action in the Virginia General Assembly
OUR BILL THIS LEGISLATIVE SESSION (JAN 2026) IN RICHMOND, Fairfax Now
Unfortunately, our bill failed.
Del. Rip Sullivan introduced the bill, HB 881 (Cities Counties and Towns Committee) to grant densely-populated localities the authority to ban or regulate gas-powered leaf blowers.
Senator Salim filed an identical bill in the Senate, SB 687 (Senate Local Gov Committee).
Jan 29th, the bill was heard in a House Subcommittee of Counties, Cities, and Towns. Del. Rip Sullivan gave a well-reasoned defense of the bill. But like last year, The Virginia Manufacturers Association (on behalf of Stihl) and the Va Golf Course Superintendents Association opposed. We had new opponents in the Office Building Association, the Virginia AgriBusiness Council, and the Virginia Farm Bureau, the latter claiming that farmers depend on gas and diesel for their farm equipment and so could not manage their farms if they couldn’t use gas-powered equipment. They feared that a ban on gas leaf blowers was a precursor to banning all gas-powered equipment used on farms and industrial facilities – the “nose of the camel under the tent”. They also objected that battery powered leaf blowers were not as powerful as gas models.
Watch the entire discussion
6 Quiet NOVA members testified in favor: 3 online, 3 in-person.
Del. Tata strongly opposed, talking about job loss. Del. Shin suggested the bill be taken up again in 2027. Very disappointing, but we’ll keep on trying.
February 9th, the bill was heard by the Senate Local Gov Committee. 3 Quiet Clean NOVA members went to Richmond to testify. Others did so online. The bill was opposed by the Virginia Manufactures Association, the Virginia Farm Bureau, and the Golf Course Superintendents Association. The Chair proposed passing over the bill indefinitely. Sen. Pekarsky made a motion to table the bill until next year, but no one seconded it. You can watch the discussion here.
In 2025, Quiet Clean NOVA had a bill in the General Assembly sponsored by Senator Salim (SB 1171) to grant localities the freedom to prohibit or regulate the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in their communities as they see fit. Civil penalty may be applied. The bill did not make out of the Committee on Local Government. Testifying in favor of the bill were the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, an official from Falls Church City, and 3 Quiet Clean NOVA members. The Virginia Manufacturers Association (on behalf of Stihl) testified against the bill. (See blog.)
In 2024 Quiet Clean NOVA had two identical bills, the same as above, one in the House, HB 644, (Sullivan) and SB 305 in the Senate (Saddam Salim).
The House bill HB 644 passed the House Counties Cities and Towns Committee with 11 yays, 9 nays – all along party lines. Several QC NOVA folks testified by Zoom on the subcommittee?hearing and also journalist Ivy Main. The only opposing speaker was from an association of golf courses. Delegate Sullivan did a SUPERB job introducing the bill; he hit ALL of our main points, talked about Stihl as a Virginia Beach company that produces and promotes a line of electric leaf blower they claim is as up to the job as their gas powered equipment.
When the bill went to the House floor, it was sent back to the Counties Cities and Towns Committee – in other words it died. Both bills were tabled for consideration in the 2025 legislature.
Our Senate companion bill, SB 305, was briefly discussed on Feb 5th in the Local Government Committee before being shelved for next year. One objection: “So what’s the next step here? Banning our lawn movers too?” Another was: “In my experience things prohibited at the local level can eventually make it to the state level ” So “ban creep”.
Senator Danica Roem (D) commented in favor of the bill. She suggested striking “localities” for “municipalities”. (That would rule out county-wide bans/restrictions. She also suggested that the bill’s scope be limited to NOVA. Even with these limitations, the bill didn’t pass.
3 members of Quiet Clean NOVA testified by Zoom in the Senate committee hearing in support of the bill.
Over 90 public comments on HB 644 were posted on Hodspeak, all but one supporting the bill.