City Council Defeats Curbs on Leaf Blowers

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday defeated two measures designed to limit noise and pollution from leaf blowers.

On a 6-6 vote, the council rejected a proposal by Councilman Marvin Braude that would have limited the blowers to a maximum of 60 decibels, a move that industry officials said would have effectively outlawed the gas-powered devices.

Councilman Richard Alatorre introduced an alternative ordinance that would regulate use of the devices, including registration of the blowers to ensure they were not too noisy and a limit on the hours during which they could be used. That measure was rejected by the same vote. The leaf blower issue will be returned for further discussion by the council’s Environmental Quality Committee.