We Americans love our lawns and treasure our power tools. Our lawn mowers, trimmers, hedge clippers, snow blowers. The king of our power equipment arsenal is undoubtedly our leaf blowers.

They are large, gas driven power machines. Size counts, and the bigger the leaf blower, the more leaves that can be forced onto the curb in the least amount of time. And Americans do not have that much time to devote to their leaves, so leaf blowers are vital to our existence.

Most Americans treasure their inalienable right to bear leaf blowers. And it is this very right which is now under a nationwide attack. You better watch out; if you are not careful you may have to revert to raking. Perish that thought.

Case in point: Los Angeles, where last year that City enacted an ordinance that banned leaf blowers all together. New York City, on the other hand, has less daring public officials. Unwilling to risk losing the pro leaf blower vote, that City passed a noise ordinance which limits leaf blower residential usage to certain hours.

That's the difference between New Yorkers and Los Angeleans: New Yorkers would never allow such an absolute deprivation to occur. Any serious attempt would lead to protests down Fifth Avenue, with a leaf blower armed militia leading the way.

Now, almost 20 California communities have some degree of leaf blower controls. One State legislator, obviously a civil libertarian, proposed a bill which would prohibit municipalities from regulating leaf blower use. State Senator Richard Polanco introduced SB 1651, which was killed by anti-noise opponents. But similar proposals have again resurfaced. For the moment at least, this effort appears to be quiet.

Earlier this year, residents of Arlington Heights, Illinois proposed a noise control ordinance which would ban operation of lawn equipment before 8:00 AM. And some residence of Highland Park, Texas have formed a group to pressure local officials to enact a leaf blower ban. They have complained that because of leaf blowers, thy cannot take walks or enjoy their porches.

To many, this is a very important issue. Decades ago, people moved from cities to the suburbs to avoid city noises. And an emerging movement is developing all over the United States with the aim of reducing loud, bothersome sounds. While many appliances are under attack, lawn blowers appear to be the most common target.

It is true that I have been a tad light hearted about this subject. But in fact, noise pollution is very real form of pollution. Noise can produce a range of human effects: from merely being an irritant, on one hand, to causing hearing loss at the other extreme. And people need some amount of tranquility in their lives.

To some, this is not just about noise. Some people have argued that banning or limiting noise blower use has wide spread societal impacts. The argument that they advance is that minority populations are often hired to perform domestic lawn work and to operate leaf blowers. Limiting their use, it is asserted, will cut into these jobs and cause a disproportionate impact on groups who can least afford it.

So the newest battle field in the war to preserve individual freedom might be our suburban lawns. While debates will continue for many years, the fact remains that municipalities appear to be willing to consider these kinds of leaf blower restrictions.

Published: November 24, 1998

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