Bozeman, MT Noise Ordinances: Leaf Blower Rules (2026)

The Bozeman Municipal Code regulates leaf blowers through two linked sections. Section 16.06.060.A.4 makes it unlawful, in areas zoned R-1, R-2, R-3, R-4, R-O, RMH, R-S or PLI, to operate any noise-creating blower, power fan, or internal combustion engine whose operation causes noise due to the explosion of operating gases or fluids, including snow blowers or other snow removal devices, leaf blowers, chainsaws and lawnmowers, in a manner which may disturb the quiet, comfort or repose of any normally sensitive and reasonable person. Section 16.06.070.A.3 then exempts that equipment from the residential prohibition during set hours: 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. from October 1 through March 30, and 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. from April 1 through September 30.

Article 6 prints no separate ban on gas-powered blowers, no electric-only mandate and no decibel cap for blowers. The test is the clock plus the reasonable-person disturbance standard. The definition of decibel in § 16.06.040 (A-scale, slow response, OSHA-approved meter) matters for construction noise rather than for blowers. A landscaper working a job site in the City of Bozeman also falls under the construction rule when the work is excavation, construction, repair or demolition, which carries a 60dB(A) limit from 8:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. at the adjacent property line (§ 16.06.090.C). Snow removal after a storm gets the same winter window as leaf work, so a 6:00 a.m. start is authorized but a 9:00 p.m. driveway pass in January is outside the exemption. Subsection B of § 16.06.070 adds that the exception never authorizes activity prohibited under chapter 38. Emergency work is exempt under § 16.06.080, and public work in the right-of-way that is reasonably necessary for the public benefit, welfare, convenience or safety is exempt under § 16.06.070.A.6.