Medford, MA Noise Ordinances: Leaf Blower Rules (2026)

Adopted as Ordinance No. 889 in 2024 and effective July 1, 2024, Section 38-58 requires all leaf blowers to meet U.S. EPA emissions standards and limits use to no more than one hour a day at any particular property. Only one leaf blower may run at a time on parcels of 10,000 square feet or less, and one per each 10,000-square-foot area on larger parcels. Operators may never blow debris, dust, or pet waste onto neighboring parcels, into catch basins, or onto vehicles or people, and masonry or construction dust may not be dispersed with a leaf blower at any time.

Sections 38-59 and 38-60 restrict gas-powered blowers, for commercial operators, municipal operators and contractors, owners of large property, and residents alike, to two windows: March 15 through May 31 and September 15 through December 15 each year; electric blowers face no seasonal limit. Commercial operators and owners of large property (two or more acres in common ownership) must file an annual operations plan with the building commissioner by September 1 and pay a review fee. Section 38-61 phases gas blowers out entirely: commercial operators and large-property owners lose all gas-blower use starting March 15, 2026, and municipal operators, contractors and residents lose it starting March 15, 2028, except for de minimis residential use of ten minutes or less per day before that date.

The building department enforces under § 38-62 with a written warning for a first offense, $100 for a second, and $200 per offense for a third and beyond, treating each day of violation separately.