The City of Portland owns about 300 gas-powered leaf blowers and officials hope to get rid of them in 2021 and deploy handheld electric and battery-powered ones instead.

The Portland City Council voted 4-0 Wednesday to create a work group that would plan how to phase out the gasoline-fueled devices starting Jan. 1, 2021. Advocates said the transition would cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, reduce noise and improve air quality. City officials said the ban also aligns with goals to have Portland be 100% fueled by renewable energy by 2050.

Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty wasn’t in attendance during the vote.

The workgroup will begin meeting in 2020. The gas leaf-blower ban wouldn’t apply to privately owned devices.

The city’s fire, parks, transportation, water and environmental services departments all have leaf blowers, said Asena Lawrence, a senior policy director for Commissioner Nick Fish who presented the resolution. They range from 156 in the parks bureau to three for the bureau of environmental services. It’s not immediately clear how much the city spends each year to maintain its 305 leaf blowers or how much 300 cleaner, quieter ones will cost.

She said gas-powered leaf blowers require more maintenance than the alternatives, are more expensive and have a lower life span, typically around 1.5 to 3 years.

Portland has leaf blower regulations that have been in place since 2001 that allow devices not exceeding 65 decibels to be used year-round and ones not louder than 70 decibels to be used from November to February. City code allows leaf blower use between 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. in residential zones and until 9 p.m. in other areas.

The city also has a list of dozens of approved models of gas, electric and battery-powered leaf blowers that can be used in Portland.

An Oregon House bill that died without a vote in the 2019 session proposed banning gas leaf blowers throughout the state beginning in 2023.

-- Everton Bailey Jr.

ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 |@EvertonBailey

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