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State procurement Act 154 Sec. E.112 — state procurement directive Enacted: 2020-10-01
Vermont's FY2021 Appropriations Act ("Big Bill"), 2020 Acts No. 154 Sec. E.112, directs the Department of Buildings and General Services (BGS) to "only purchase, lease, or acquire battery-electric lawn mowers, leaf blowers, and trimmers" starting October 1, 2020, provided a functional equivalent is available. This is a state-grounds procurement rule, not a public-facing ban. The dominant Vermont policy mechanism is the utility-rebate / voluntary-transition ecosystem under Tier III RES (30 V.S.A. § 8005), covering all 17 VT electric utilities. Burlington is the only Vermont municipality with a binding GLB ordinance.
Research & citations
- The Movement to 'Make America Rake Again' — Reasons to be Cheerful
— Reasons to be Cheerful, 2024-01-18
Hannah Wallace profiles the national push to ban gas-powered leaf blowers, opening with Quiet Clean PDX co-chair Michael Hall (Portland, OR) and noting more than 100 US cities have enacted bans alongside 45+ Quiet Clean Alliance member groups. Calls Washington D.C.'s 2022 phase-out the "gold standard" — three-year ramp-up, citizen-affidavit enforcement via DLCP, fines up to $500. Surveys California's CARB AB-1346 zero-emission rule (effective Jan 2024) plus the state's $30M CORE voucher program; cites bans in Burlington VT, Evanston IL, Oakland, Beverly Hills, Santa Barbara, and Montgomery County MD; flags rebate/discount programs in Colorado (30% statewide point-of-sale discount, eff. Jan 2024) and Dallas. Quotes Seagraves Landscaping (West Linn, OR — a Lake Oswego Parks contractor) on crews preferring electric blowers. Closes by linking the movement to the Xerces Society's Leave the Leaves campaign.
- 2020 Acts No. 154 (PDF)
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