A sweeping agriculture and land-use measure moving through the Florida Legislature could prevent cities and counties, including Key Biscayne, from enforcing bans on gasoline-powered landscape equipment.

SB 290 would prohibit counties and municipalities from “enacting or enforcing” any local law that restricts or prohibits the use of gasoline-powered farm equipment or gasoline-powered landscape equipment, or that treats such equipment differently from other types of machinery.

The bill defines gasoline-powered landscape equipment as tools with internal combustion engines used for landscape maintenance. These include leaf blowers, trimmers and similar devices. Gasoline-powered farm equipment is defined separately as machinery used in agricultural operations.

If approved in its current form, the measure would preempt local governments statewide from regulating such equipment based solely on fuel type. The language applies uniformly across Florida and does not include exemptions based on population size, density or environmental sensitivity. That means densely populated municipalities, like Key Biscayne, would be subject to the same restrictions as rural communities.

The bill does contain separate language involving development approvals in “low-density municipalities” related to ecologically significant parcels, but that provision is unrelated to the gasoline-powered equipment preemption.

What it means for Key Biscayne

Key Biscayne adopted an ordinance, which went into effect in 2018, prohibiting the use of gas-powered leaf blowers within the Village, citing concerns over noise, air quality and quality of life. Miami-Dade County followed with a similar measure in 2024.

If SB 290 passes as written, existing local bans on gas-powered leaf blowers, like the Villages’s 2018 ordinance, would likely become unenforceable.

The ordinance would not necessarily disappear from the books immediately. However, the Village would likely be legally barred from enforcing it. Landscapers, businesses or residents affected by the restriction could challenge the ordinance, and the state could intervene if necessary.

The current bill text does not include an explicit grandfather clause protecting existing municipal ordinances. There is also no density-based exemption. The preemption language applies statewide and does not distinguish between new or existing local laws.

In Florida’s legislative drafting, when state law says local governments “may not enact or enforce” certain regulations, that typically overrides existing ordinances unless the legislation specifically preserves them.

The measure remains under consideration in Tallahassee and is now in messages and is being formally transmitted to the Senate.