Unincorporated Orange County has no separate leaf-blower ordinance. Leaf blowers fall under the County noise code's property-maintenance hours (Sec. 4-6-7(i)), and statewide California law (AB 1346 / CARB) now bars sales of new gas-powered leaf blowers and other small off-road engines.
The County does not single out leaf blowers in its Codified Ordinances. Instead, leaf blower use is governed two ways. First, under the Noise Control ordinance, Section 4-6-7(i) exempts 'noise sources associated with the maintenance of real property' (which includes routine yard work like leaf blowing) provided the activity takes place between 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on any day except Sunday or a Federal holiday, or between 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Sunday or a Federal holiday. Outside those hours, the noise must comply with the residential limits in Section 4-6-5 (55 dB(A) day / 50 dB(A) night, reduced 5 dB(A) for certain noise). Second, California state law now controls the equipment itself: Assembly Bill 1346 (2021) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations require most new small off-road engines (SORE, 25 horsepower or less, which covers leaf blowers, mowers, and trimmers) sold in California to be zero-emission beginning with model year 2024. The law restricts sales of new gas-powered units but does not ban continued use of existing CARB-compliant gas equipment. There is no County-set decibel cap specific to leaf blowers.
Leaf blowing outside the maintenance hours in Section 4-6-7(i) loses its exemption and is a misdemeanor noise violation under Section 4-6-15; equipment sale restrictions are enforced at the state level by CARB.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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