Bedford To Hold Hearing On New Leaf Blower Limits

BEDFORD, NY — Bedford town board members want to ban gas-powered leaf blowers and severely limit the use of electric-powered leaf blowers.

A public hearing is scheduled for 7:20 p.m. Dec. 7 on Zoom and will be live-streamed.

The town code would say that "Bedford finds and declares that internal combustion leaf blowers represent a significant source of environmental pollution in the form of high and low-frequency noise, carbon and noncarbon emissions, and dust particulate, which represent a present and increasing threat to the public peace and to the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of the Town and its visitors.

"Additionally, leaf blowers displace significant amounts of particulate matter, spreading pollen,

mold, chemical pesticides, and other fine particulates. Internal combustion leaf blowers are also
recognized as hyper-polluters, emitting significant carbon and noncarbon emissions in greater
magnitudes than automobiles over similar operating periods. Accordingly, it is the policy of the
Town to phase out the use of internal combustion leaf blowers to minimize and mitigate the
harmful impacts of their use."

Gas-powered leaf blowers would be prohibited entirely after Dec. 15, 2023.

Plus there would be two limited windows of opportunity for leaf-blowing: the periods of time between Oct. 15 – Dec. 15 and April 1 - 30 when there are lots of leaves and debris on the ground.

Leaf-blowers would be allowed only between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday on non-holidays during Clean-Up Seasons; between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturdays and holidays during Clean-Up Seasons and between noon and 4 p.m. on Sundays during Clean-Up Seasons.

An exception: cleaning up after major storms or other emergencies. In such an event, leaf blowers and other domestic tools and equipment would be exempt for seven days from the end of the storm.

To document an offense, the new code would require a time-stamped geo-video/photo of any violation by any person, accompanied by a sworn affidavit confirming the validity of the video/photo.