June 2026 Newsletter

2nd annual SUMMER PALOOZA:   Along with numerous community and environmental groups, QC NOVA had a table at this fun event hosted by Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck on Saturday June 6.  Storck himself would be in favor of prohibiting the use of gas-powered leaf blowers in Fairfax County but, of course, recognizes the current obstacles.  Interestingly, he reported that while the Mount Vernon government property has been re-landscaped with native plants pursuant to efforts to mitigate the impact of a changing climate and to adopt sustainable landscape care practices, the usual landscape contractor has declined to continue/to bid on the next contract, claiming that it does not have the skills to work with native plantings.  (Might it be possible that sustainable landscaping requires less intensive care and therefore is less interesting in terms of the landscape companies’ bottom lines?)

Storck brought to our table a representative of another community group — Defensores de la Cuenca (Defenders of the [Chesapeake Bay] Watershed) — and suggested that perhaps QC NOVA could work with them to train hispanic landscape workers in taking care of native plantings.  Defensores already works on expanding the tree canopy in our region.  Definitely an idea to pursue since part of our mission statement is to promote sustainable lawn-care practices.

One Step Closer to an Arlington Ban: At its regular monthly meeting on Saturday June 13, the Arlington County Board voted 5-0 to advertise that it will take up at its July meeting a proposal to amend the Arlington noise ordinance to prohibit use of gas-powered leaf blowers/vacuums after a transition period of 18-36 months.  

The County staff proposed a three-year transition period, but after multiple letters and in-person testimony from QC Northern Virginia Arlingtonians and others, the Board agreed to advertise 18-36 months.   Had the advertisement not been changed to 18-36 months, the eventual noise ordinance would have had 36 months baked in.   The advertisement of the proposed amended noise ordinance opens another month for public comment and we will be pushing for more Arlington resident letters and testimony in favor of no more than 18 months.  

All five Board members are in favor of a ban, but some are feeling anxious about the possible impact on small lawn care companies registered to work in Arlington.  Some companies have put forth the same lazy myth about electric blowers not being powerful enough and, of course, some have said that they cannot afford the transition.   Unsurprisingly, 68% of the 19 lawn care companies that responded to Arlington’s public engagement questionnaire were “not comfortable” with the concept of prohibiting year-round use of GLBs.  Yet, that leaves nearly one-third who were “very comfortable.”  Since Arlington’s neighbors on three sides (DC, Montgomery County Maryland, and Alexandria City Virginia) have already banned GLBs (or will in November in the case of Alexandria), many lawn care companies operating in the DMV are already using electric for those jurisdictions.  The future is clearly electric!

April 2026, Newsletter

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, April 15th.   Please join us at 7:00 PM as we discuss next steps in pushing for local freedom to ban or otherwise regulate the use of gas-powered leaf blowers.

Processing what happened at the 2026 General Assembly:  We continue to explore the dynamics behind the defeat of our bills in their first debates on both the House and Senate sides.  [check out the February 2026 newsletter for more details].  We have learned that among the paid lobbyists opposing the bills was the Virginia Turfgrass Council, which vigorously, but unsuccessfully, lobbied Delegate Rip Sullivan (patron of our House bill).  You can view the VTC gloating video about how it “Blows Away Leaf Blower Ban” here.  Of course, it is filled with falsehoods about the power of electric leaf blowers and such.  Among possible next steps to consider would be taking the fight to the several lobbyists that spoke against our bills at the 2026 General Assembly session.  

Arlington Update:  The spring/summer schedule for the Arlington County Board to consider amending the noise ordinance to ban gas-powered leaf blowers after a transition period of up to three years is still to be determined.  However, we have tentatively scheduled several May dates to have a table at farmers markets in Arlington to help push a positive outcome.  Although it would be inappropriate for non-Arlington QC NOVA members to testify in favor of a ban during the upcoming public process, it would be a good idea for everyone to pitch in to help with leafletting and tabling events.  A win in Arlington could help make more dominoes such as Falls Church City and even Fairfax City fall.

At the EcoActionArlington annual meeting on March 11, EcoAction put banning GLBs at the very top of its list of advocacy goals for the coming year.  The Arlington County Board member in attendance – Board chair Matt deFerranti – made reference in his remarks to banning GLBs this summer (i.e., starting the transition process).  

February 2026, Newsletter

Demise of HB881 and SB687

The identical House and Senate bills (see text below) were both defeated for this year in their first round  of presentation — January 29 in sub-committee #3 of the House Counties, Cities, and Towns Committee and February 9 in the Senate Local Government Committee.  

Del. Rip Sullivan gave a well-reasoned defense of his HB881 (by that time co-sponsored by Delegates Hope and Bulova) and five QC NOVA members were able to speak in person or virtually.  Also speaking in person in support was the Arlington County lobbyist in Richmond.  Comments on HODSpeak were in favor of the bill by a wide margin.  Like last year, paid lobbyists for the Virginia Manufacturers Association (on behalf of Stihl) and the Virginia Golf Course Superintendents Association spoke in opposition.  We had new lobbyists, likely recruited by Stihl, opposing in person:  the Apartment and Office Building Association, the Virginia AgriBusiness Council, and the Virginia Farm Bureau.  The last nonsensically claimed that farmers depend on gas and diesel for their farm equipment such as tractors and so could not manage their farms if communities in densely-populated urban areas decided that they did not want GLBs used there, arguing that prohibiting use of GLBs was “the camel’s nose under the tent.”  It goes without saying that no one is talking about banning use of tractors!  Only one citizen spoke in opposition – virtually. 

Curiously, no Republicans on the subcommittee attended the session though Del. Tata popped in to praise Stihl and urge her colleagues to vote no before leaving again.  Also curiously, there was almost no discussion, just a motion to carry the bill over to 2027 which passed by a voice vote — not a recorded vote — of five (all Democrats) to 0.  The two Republican members of the sub-committee and one of the Democratic members were all absent at the time of the vote.  It would appear that some kind of deal was made before the meeting.  We hope to find out more.

SB 687 fared no better as you can see here (at about 1:11).  Three QC NOVA members appeared in person to support the bill and were joined again by the Arlington County lobbyist.  Very little time was allotted to those speaking virtually in favor of the bill; only five managed to squeeze in – the Falls Church City Legislative Director, electric landscaper Little Foot, Virginia Sierra Club, a Falls Church City Councilman, and a QC NOVA member.  The Falls Church City mayor and several other QC NOVA members did not get a chance to speak.  The in-person opposition was a bit less robust than in the House – only the paid lobbyists from the Virginia Manufacturers Association, the Virginia Golf Course Superintendents Association, and the Virginia Farm Bureau, repeating the same remarks they had made in the House.

Only Republican Senators Durant and Stanley jumped into the discussion with Durant essentially representing Stihl and Stanley pressing the line of argument that any prohibition on GLB use would lead inexorably to a ban on all gas powered lawn care equipment as well as tractors, threatening the production of food to feed the world.  Recounting how he had hated raking leaves as a child, he tried to wax poetic about his love of his gas leaf blower, the noise of which heralded spring and was the sound of freedom.  One would have to pry his beloved GLB out of his cold dead hand.  Questioning Sen. Salim about his views on weed whackers, Stanley managed to mousetrap him into saying that we were “starting” with leaf blowers, thus “proving” that leaf blowers were indeed the camel’s nose under the tent.   

No Democrats joined the discussion apart from a comment from Senator McPike that he was glad to see Arlington and other local governments were going electric themselves and an unsuccessful motion from Senator Pekarsky to carry the bill over until next year.  Indeed most of the Democrats left half way during the discussion.  A quick vote to “pass by” the bill indefinitely passed 11- 4.  The four voting to support us were Democratic senators Boysko, Pekarsky, Roem, and Williams Graves.  

Thanks to all who sacrificed time and money to push our cause in this year’s General Assembly!  QC NOVA members went to Richmond on January 29, February 4, and February 9, testifying and meeting with staff from 14 senators and  11 delegates.

Join the first discussion on where we go from here on Wednesday February 18 at 6:00 PM via Zoom.

Mark your Calendars

March 11 — EcoAction Arlington Annual Meeting (6:30-9:00) at Washington-Liberty High School.  QC NOVA will have a table there.

April 23 — Town of Vienna Green Expo. 7:00 PM

 § 15.2-918.1. Local prohibition or regulation of use of gas-powered leaf blowers; civil penalty.

Any locality with a population density of at least 2,500 persons per square mile based on the most recent report of the United States Census Bureau may by ordinance prohibit or regulate the use of gas-leaf blowers within its jurisdiction.  Any such ordinance shall become enforceable not less than 12 months after the date it is enacted by the local governing body.  The locality may authorize a civil penalty for violations in an amount to be set out in the ordinance.  Civil penalties assessed under this section shall be paid into the treasury of the locality where the violation occurred and may be used by the locality to assist with the purchase of non-prohibited leaf blowers by residents and local businesses.

August, 2025 Newsletter

Threat to Montgomery County gas-powered leaf blower ban averted:  The full ban (with $500 fines) went into effect on July 1.  A proposed amendment to the ban, supported by four Montgomery County Council members, requested an exemption for commercial landscaping businesses during fall leaf cleanup, from October thru December for the next three years.  A public hearing on the proposal was held July 15th with numerous speakers – about half pro and half con.  Some big landscaping companies reported that they had already spent as much as $250,000 but were not yet able to comply fully with the ban.  Some of the tired old arguments were made – e.g., inadequate power of electric blowers, higher prices for customers, companies going out of business.  The final speaker, a Latina landscaper, made an eloquent case for the ban which protects worker and bystander health.  The Montgomery County Council’s Transportation and Environment Committee took up the issue on July 28 and killed the bill that would have weakened the ban. 

QC NOVA’s July 16 meeting focused primarily on arrangements for our participation in the upcoming Arlington County Fair (August 15-17) and on continued discussion of how to best position ourselves for success in the 2026 General Assembly session – e.g., whether to introduce our bill in both the House and Senate or in just one chamber and who to try to line up as the best sponsors of the bill.   We heard the great news from our Richmond outpost that a member of the Richmond City Council is looking into ways to amend the noise ordinance to effectively ban gas leaf blowers. His announcement  mentioned noise pollution and the harmful emissions and cited the recent Alexandria City ban.  And David Jimenez, the owner of the all electric Little Foot Eco-Friendly Lawncare that serves Falls Church, Lake Barcroft, McLean, Tysons, Vienna, and North Arlington, presented his plans to grow the company given the high demand that he cannot currently meet.  

Fun at the Arlington County Fair:  Many thanks to those who volunteered to staff our table at the August 15-17 Arlington County Fair.  And a special thanks to Lisa Mendis who coordinated our participation at the fair which was designed to educate people about the gas-powered leaf blower threats to our health and our environment and to encourage  people to transition to electric.  Most who stopped by the table who had their own blowers had already gone electric.  We need to reach and educate more people who hire commercial landscapers that use gas blowers.

Arlington Green Communities Event:  Quiet Clean Virginia Foundation will also have a table at the 22nd Annual Arlington Green Community Tour & Celebration on Sunday September 14.  The table will be at the Central Library on Quincy Street from 10:30-12:30.  Please consider volunteering to staff the table for an hour or two as we build support for banning gas-powered leaf blowers in Arlington!

Meetings with Virginia legislators and staff continue:  Jim Gillespie met with Delegate David Bulova August 12 to update him on our plans for legislation during the 2026 General Assembly session, including possible variations in language of a bill.  Avril Garland and a constituent of Senator Pekarsky (Senate District 36) met with the senator’s staffer on August 14 for the same purpose and will hope to meet with the senator herself soon.  Dave Fitzgerald will meet with Senator Jennifer Boysko (Senate District 38) on August 19.  

Minutes of March 19, 2025 Meeting

Quiet Clean NOVA —March 19, 2025 Meeting 

Present by Zoom were:  Lubna Dabbagh (Vienna), Dave Fitzgerald (McLean), Avril Garland (Vienna), Jim Gillespie (Fairfax City), Kristi Karls (Annandale), Margaret McKelvey (Arlington), and Gary Usrey (Arlington). 

We had a guest speaker (organized by Jim Gillespie) —Bob Shippee, head of the Legislative Committee of the Virginia Sierra Club.  He gave us a number of tips on legislative strategy which we discussed with reference to our plans to get our bill (seeking freedom for localities to ban or otherwise regulate gas-powered leaf blowers) re-introduced and through the 2026 General Assembly. 

Find friends on the relevant Senate and House committees (for us – Local Government and Counties Cities and Towns respectively) and nurture those contacts over the preceding year.

  • Face to face is best.  
  • Try to meet legislators in their district offices.  Trying to meet with them in Richmond during the reconvened session starting April 2 is not a good idea as they will be focused on responding to Gov. Youngkin’s vetoes and amendments, not thinking about the next legislative cycle.
  • To counter the idea that the leaf blower issue is a niche, Northern Virginia issue, try to line up legislator “friends” from elsewhere in the state.  Given our nascent QC Richmond group, that would be a good place to start.  Delegate Betsy Carr would be great, though she is not currently on the CCT committee.  Since getting through committees (and subcommittees in the case of the House) is the first and often biggest challenge, focus on those members first.
  • Senators are not up for re-election in November but all Delegates are.  Hopefully the Democrats will maintain their 51-49 majority, if not gain a couple more seats.  
  • Definitely engage in person with Senator Roem to understand why she thinks a bill limited to municipalities in Planning District 8 would be helpful as a first step/pilot.  Since she cited concerns from the more rural areas of her district/presumably farmers, Lubna should be there to make the point that farmers (as Lubna has been) would normally not be concerned at all about any leaf blower regulation since farmers value the fertilizing aspect of leaves and would not blow them away.

Pick off opponents to a bill. 

  • Obviously the fewer opponents speaking before the committees, the greater the chances of success.  We had only one opposition speaker in 2024 (the Virginia Golf Course Superintendents Association) and two in 2025 (the Virginia Golf Course Superintendents Association and the Virginia Manufacturers Association-essentially representing Stihl which made some behind the scenes calls in 2024).
  • Meeting with the Virginia Manufacturers Association is probably not a bad idea.  It is a powerful group, but likely not powerful enough to kill a bill.
  • Meeting with Stihl to try to get them to not oppose in return for QC NOVA/QCVF soft-promoting the Stihl electric line in its lobbying/ educational efforts is definitely worth a try.
  • Meeting with the Virginia Golf Course Superintendents Association to better understand their “issue” and to make it clear that we are talking about blowers at this point rather than all landscaping equipment and that the proposed legislation would be permissive, not mandatory, would probably be worth it.  Any restrictions would be decided at the locality level.  Carve outs for golf courses would be possibilities if localities so desired —and indeed might be likely as Ted Craig pointed out in his 2024 letter to Rob Bohannan of the VGCSA.

Best Allies

  • Obviously, having as many allies as possible increases the chances of success.  However, garnering allies is a question of level of effort, especially for a small group of volunteers like ourselves.
  • This January 22 at the Senate Local Government Committee hearing where Sen. Salim presented our bill, we had the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District, and the City of Falls Church as unsolicited speakers in our behalf – probably somewhat opportunistically as they were already there for other issues.  The Virginia Conservation Network voted just the day of the hearing to support the bill but it was too late for them to speak.
  • Shippee’s suggestions for quality allies included the Virginia Conservation Network, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters and maybe the Piedmount Environmental Council and Chesapeake Climate action Network (CCAN).  As chair of the Legislative Committee of the Virginia Sierra Club, Shippee committed to taking our prospective 2026 bill to the club for a decision on whether to support it.
  • Note:  An organization does not have to be a member of VCN in order for VCN to support its bills.  QCNOVA has been turned down three times for membership (twice before the 3/19 meeting and once right after despite Gary Usrey’s efforts).  Elders Climate Action, of which Gary is a member and which is a member of VCN, will continue to carry water for us.
  • Support from the Virginia Municipal League and/or the Virginia Association of Counties could be helpful, but may not be worth the level of effort required.  Not having them opposed (more or less equal to not taking a position at all) would be important.  In Shippee’s experience, VACO has more sway than VML.
  • Approaching prospective governor Spanberger is not a bad idea, but getting her attention would be a major lift given competition for meeting with her campaign; Sierra Club has not yet been successful.

The decision on whether to have legislation introduced in either the House or the Senate, or in both, varies from issue to issue and depends very much on the strength of the patron.  

  • There’s no perfect answer.  Many people see the two-chamber approach as having two bites at the apple.  However, it can often be two chances for failure because, if a bill fails in one chamber, the other will normally just summarily drop it without further consideration.  One failure is better than two! 
  • (To recall:  Our 2022 bill, introduced in the House only, did not make it out of the CCT Sub-committee. Our 2024 bill, introduced in both houses, did not make it out of the House CCT full committee and was carried over by the Senate Local Government Committee.  And our 2025 bill, introduced only in the Senate, did not make it out of the Local Government Committee.)
  • When cross-over occurs, a bill starts over in the other chamber.  For example, when a bill crosses over from the Senate, it goes first to the relevant House sub-committee, then to the full committee, and then to the floor.  When a bill crosses over from the House it goes first to the relevant full Senate committee, (The Senate has no subcommittees), then to the Senate floor. These different paths could inform the best approach to take.  
  • Asked what legislators we should approach as patrons for our bill, Shippee suggested on the House side Delegates Betsy Carr (Richmond), and current CCT Committee members Bennett-Parker (previous patron Alexandria), Shelly Simmonds (Newport News), Alex Askew (Norfolk/Virginia Beach), Irene Shinn (Herndon), Atoosa Reasor (Loudoun County) , and Katrina Callsen (Charlottesville).

Best Angle to Stress

  • Having three or four angles to stress is smart in lining up allies/making the bill’s pitch.  
  • Noise and environmental impact may be most salient.  Public health and environmental justice can also be key.  

Petitions – are they worth it?

  • A level of effort calculation
  • Focusing on individual legislators is likely to have more immediate payoff.

*************************************

Other business

Margaret reported that follow-up on the suggestion from Senator Angelia Williams Graves’ chief of staff about meeting with the Virginia Manufacturers Association had yielded an email introduction from new COS Lisa Barnes to her and to Brett Vassey of VMA.  Margaret emailed Vassey suggesting a meeting but has not yet received any reply.  

Jim Gillespie will be in Virginia Beach (where Stihl is headquartered) in mid-April and could try to arrange a meeting then.

It was agreed to have an in-person meeting on Sunday April 6 (2:00-5:00) hosted by Lubna to further plan out our legislative strategy for 2026 and assign various work elements for meetings with legislators etc.  

Minutes prepared by Margaret McKelvey  March 24, 2025

Letter to EQAQ

Member Avril Garland sent a letter to Fairfax County Environmental Quality Advisory Council meeting of Jan. 8, 2025

Dear members of EQAC,

Allow me to make a few comments:Of this equipment, gas-powered leaf blowers have generated the most complaints and have been the focus of several legislative efforts.

The air pollution is staggering. The inefficient, typically two-stroke engine of a gas leaf blower fails to combust some 30% of the fuel, dumping carcinogens such as benzene and other VOCs into the air.  Also emitted is a stream of particulate matter including black carbon or soot.  Small particulate matter (2.5 microns)is particularly dangerous in that it can lodge deep inside the lungs, causing or exacerbating asthma and other respiratory problems as well as cardiac illnesses.  The California Air Resources Board says that the smog-forming pollution from using a commercial gas blower for one hour equals driving a light-duty passenger car for 1,100 miles, the distance from here to Miami, a 15-hour trip. And why does this matter? EPA rates Northern Virginia as a “marginal non-attainment area” for ground ozone. Breathing in air contaminated with ozone has serious health risks.

The CA Air Resources Board says that “total smog-forming emissions from small-off-road engines (SOREs) already exceed emissions from light-duty passenger cars in California. SORE emissions are projected to increase as the population grows, while emissions from passenger cars decrease. By 2031, SORE emissions are projected to be nearly twice those from passenger cars.” See Small Engine Fact Sheet

For a 2011 study comparing the tailpipe emissions from gas leaf blowers and cars, see Edmonds Car Review.  

Climate and Energy 

It’s commendable that the county is encouraging a transition to EVs as part of CEPAC’s goals. However it ignores the burning of these very same climate changing fossil fuels when they are used for landscaping purposes. The US Department of Transport says that in 2020, landscape equipment used 3 bn gallons of gas. 

If roughly 25 lbs of CO2 are emitted per gallon of gas burned, well do the math!

Gas-powered landscape equipment also emits nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.

Beyond the health and environmental concerns, there are environmentaljustice issues here.  Landscape workers, often members of minority groups, with loud polluting engines strapped to their backs risk hearing loss, tinnitus, lung and cardiac diseases, and usually have little recourse to seek safer working conditions. Fully capable alternatives to gas leaf blowers are available! 

Stihl Corporation, a leading supplier of leaf blowers, with its U.S. headquarters in Virginia Beach,

vigorously promotes advantages commercial landscapers will gain by switching to electric leaf blowers, including diminishing noise and protecting the environment.  See Why Your Landscaping Crew Should Switch to Battery Equipment

Although upfront costs are high, over time switching to electric leaf blowers will save a business money in that they are almost maintenance-free and don’t need gas and oil.  See studies of University of Arkansas, 2017 study and Santa Cruz Coalition for a Healthy and Safe Environment updated in 2023

For more info on switching to electric equipment, see  American Green Zone Alliance.

However, much leaf-blower use is unnecessary. For small property, rakes and brooms are perfectly adequate. Mulching leaves into the grass with a lawn mower every week will take care of even the thickest leaf litter. Or better, leaving the leaves whole on the ground will provide habitat for firefly larva, salamanders, turtles, frogs, detritivores, and countless other creatures. 96% of lepidoptera overwinter in the leaves. (Doug Tallamy.)  The county needs to educate people that supergroomed yards provide a very impoverished habitat for our birds and pollinators. 

We are glad to see that FCPS are switching to electric landscape equipment and also on Fairfax County government property, and that government contractors who agree to use electric will be given preference. 

However, in the case of the gas leaf blower, that is not sufficient. Outside of January and February, neighborhoods throughout the county are still being disrupted by these loud filthy tools, often on a daily basis.

Montgomery County has banned the use and sales of gas-powered leaf blowers effective July 1st. Gas leaf blowers are also banned in Washington DC, Baltimore, and Annapolis. Those who live and work in Fairfax County deserve the same improvements in public health and quality of life. 

Sincerely,

Avril Garland