Dallas

Ban status

No GLB ordinance in force. Dallas Office of Environmental Quality and Sustainability (OEQS) developed a phased GLB ban plan 2019–2023 under Council Member Paula Blackmon and OEQS Director Carlos Evans (city operations 2026; commercial 2024–2026; residential 2026). The plan was killed by SB 1017 (Texas preemption, May 2023) — Sen. Kelly Hancock had said of the Dallas process: "We just need to nip this in the bud before it starts." Dallas pivoted to a voluntary $150 voucher program to help residents and landscapers transition to electric equipment.

Timeline

• 2023-05-27 Enforcement paused — Governor Abbott signed SB 1017, preempting Dallas's phase-out plan
• 2023-02 Effective date reached — Phase: Evans presented phase-out plan to Council
• 2023 Effective date reached — Phase: Dallas pivoted to voluntary $150 voucher program for electric equipment transition
• 2019 Bill introduced — OEQS began developing phased gas leaf blower ban plan under CM Paula Blackmon and Director Carlos Evans

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.
• Dallas Climate Action and Environmental Quality — City of Dallas
• Petition: Ban All Gasoline-Powered Lawncare Equipment in DFW — Change.org
  Multi-city Dallas-Fort Worth TX ban petition on all gasoline-powered lawn equipment. Active.
• Texas preempts Dallas leaf blower ban (SB 1017) — Dallas Morning News, 2023-06-14
• Texas Senate passes leaf blower preemption bill targeting Dallas — Texas Tribune, 2023-04-25