House Bill 1337, introduced in the Virginia House of Delegates on January 21 by Del. Kaye Kory, would authorize any locality, by ordinance, to regulate the use of gas-powered leaf blowers. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns but has not yet been referred to a sub-committee, and no hearings are scheduled. We recently encouraged you to support legislation to regulate gas-powered leaf blowers and hope you will again take the time to contact your Delegate to support H.B. 1337. You can find your legislator’s name and contact information at Who's My Legislator. If Del. Kory, District 38, is your representative, please thank her for taking this step. Notes or calls in support to members of the Committee on Counties, Cities and Towns are particularly helpful. Committee members within ASNV’s jurisdiction include:
Del. Wendy Gooditis, District 10
Del. Danica A. Roem, District 13
Del. David A. LaRock, District 33
Del. Suhas Subramanyam, District 87
When you contact your delegate, you can emphasize the harm from gas-powered leaf blowers:
They destroy the habitat of butterflies, beetles, bees, moths and other creatures that make their homes and lay their eggs in leaves, which affects other wildlife up the food chain.
Their loud, penetrating noise disturbs the peace of communities, birds and other wildlife.
They poison the air with polluting emissions.
Low-wage workers using the machines are at risk of hearing loss and other health effects, creating environmental justice concerns.
Their emissions contribute to climate change.
Further information is available from the Quiet Clean NOVA website and an article by James Fallows on how activists fought for the ban in Washington, D.C. (“Get Off My Lawn,” The Atlantic, April 2019). For local resources on the importance of leaf litter to insect communities on which birds rely, see an article by ASNVer Glenda Booth on leaving the leaves, and articles on the decline of nightjars, which nest in leaf litter, the "litter critters" who live in and eat leaf litter, and the importance of leaf litter for fireflies.