City Manager Letter

In response to Awaiting Report Item Number 06-34 and Amended City Council Order O-13 of 12/5/05, regarding a request for you to have the Law Department draft a local law “to ban gas and diesel powered leaf blowers from use in the City of Cambridge”, and “to consider whether a requirement could be placed on leaf blowers so that machines do not violate the Noise Ordinance”, attached please find two draft amendments to Chapter 8.16 of the Cambridge Municipal Code entitled “Noise Control” for your consideration.

The first alternative (“Alternative 1”) would amend Subsection L of Section 8.16.080 of the Noise Ordinance by banning leaf blowers, as requested by the City Council, but I do not recommend this alternative.

The second alternative (“Alternative 2”), which I recommend and is based upon staff recommendations, would also amend Subsection L of Section 8.16.080 by allowing gas and diesel powered leaf blowers, while restricting their type and use. Specifically, this alternative would require that all leaf blowers comply with noise level standards developed under the supervision of the American National Standards Institute’s (“ANSI”) “Committee for Sound Level Labeling Standard for Hand Held and Back Pack Gasoline Powered Blowers” presently adopted as ANSI B-175.2 as may be amended.  Alternative 2 would also restrict the hours leaf blowers can be used to between 8:00 A.M. and 7:00 P.M.

There would be significant operational impacts to the maintenance program for the City’s parks and playgrounds if leaf blowers are banned.  The result will be increased costs for maintaining parks and playgrounds and a reduction in park maintenance standards because the frequency that staff will be able to visit parks will decrease.

Leaf blowers are effective tools in park maintenance programs in clearing leaf and grass clippings, particularly during spring and fall clean up periods.  Since 2002, the DPW Parks Maintenance contracts include the following:

All gas-powered blowers must be three years old or less, and must meet current standards as defined by the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as by the American National Standards Institute.

Blowers shall not be used before 8:00 a.m.

With the exception of fall leaf collection, only one blower at a time shall be used within parcels less than 15,000 square feet in size, or directly abutting a school in session. [We coordinate closely with Schools on timing for use of blowers.]

Rakes or brooms shall be used to loosen heavier debris.  Blowers shall not be used to move large debris piles from one spot to another.

The muffler, air intakes, and all filters of gas-powered blowers shall be checked routinely to ensure efficient operation.

All blowers shall be equipped with the longest possible nozzle extension for that model, to direct the air stream as close to the ground as possible.

Under no circumstances shall any litter or debris be blown, swept, or raked onto an adjacent street, gutter, or into a catch basin, nor shall it be blown onto adjacent property, vehicles, persons, or pets.

These standards are used by DPW Parks and Urban Forestry in-house crews, and are also voluntarily used by Cambridge Landscape Company.

If leaf blowers are banned, parks crews would need to use brooms and rakes to clean up leaves and grass clippings instead of a blower. Estimates are that this will take between three and five times longer to do this work manually than to use a leaf blower.  Using the conservative number of three times longer during certain times of the year, this translates to an estimated 25% increase (minimum) in our park maintenance contract costs, or $115,000.  Please note that this cost does not include work at Fresh Pond Reservation, the Golf Course or Danehy Park.  In addition, with current staffing levels, the cleanliness levels in our parks may decrease—in the spring and fall seasons in particular, when we typically clean parks three times per week, this may decrease to once or twice per week – due to the increased time we need to spend cleaning a particular park.