Yakima County, WA Noise Ordinances: Leaf Blower Rules (2026)

Yakima County has no separate leaf blower ordinance. The only local provision that speaks to yard equipment is in Chapter 6.28 (Noise Control), which applies to the unincorporated area. Section 6.28.040(17) exempts from the chapter: Sounds created by lawn and garden equipment from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. The chapter does not define lawn and garden equipment, does not mention leaf blowers, and says nothing about gas-powered versus electric machines, decibel ratings or muffler standards.

The time limit is written into the exemption itself. Between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. the equipment sound is outside the chapter. Outside those hours item (17) no longer applies, so the general rule in § 6.28.030 is the standard left standing. That rule makes it unlawful to make or allow to originate from property any sound which is plainly audible within a dwelling unit that is not the source of the sound, is generated within two hundred feet of a dwelling unit, or annoys, disturbs, injures or endangers the comfort, repose, health, peace or safety of others. Section 6.28.030(2) defines plainly audible as sound that can be understood or identified, so no meter reading is needed.

Other exemptions on the § 6.28.040 list carry no hours. Item (7) exempts sounds originating from commercial agriculture, which matters in orchard and vineyard country, and item (18) exempts sounds created by lawfully established commercial and industrial uses. Section 6.22.040 adds that farm operations shall not be restricted to time of day or days of the week.

Under § 6.28.050 the county sheriff and other law enforcement officers enforce the chapter. This page applies to unincorporated Yakima County only. Yakima, Sunnyside, Grandview, Selah, Toppenish, Union Gap, Wapato and Zillah are separate incorporated cities, and county ordinances do not govern trust land within the Yakama Nation Reservation.