The NJ bans list keeps growing — and your lawn mower may be next

My parents worked in the plastics industry. I grew up in a house where a plastic bag was never just a plastic bag — it was a bread bag, a trash bag, a car bag for the glove compartment, a spare bag tucked inside another bag in case you needed a bag. The idea of banning them would have been incomprehensible. And my gas-powered leaf blower — that machine makes me feel like the undisputed Lawn King! I fire it up and I feel like I am competing in a monster truck rally in my own backyard.  I imagine it’s the jet packs featured on Jonny Quest and Scooby Doo! 

I tell you this so you understand where I am coming from when I say: New Jersey is coming for all of it. The bag is already gone. The leaf blower is next. And if the last five years of how this state operates are any guide, the lawn mower is not far behind.

Here is the complete list of what New Jersey has banned, restricted, or is actively moving toward banning right now. Call it a reference guide. Call it a warning. Either way, read it before they add something else.

Gas-powered leaf blowers: the ban that started a movement

Maplewood and Montclair went first, enacting year-round bans on gas-powered leaf blowers for commercial landscapers. Princeton followed with restrictions covering most of the calendar year. West Orange put seasonal limits on the books. And there have been loud discussions in Madison, and the landscapers are fighting back!  

Now bill S623 is moving through Trenton again, a statewide phase-out that would first ban the sale of two-stroke blowers and eventually prohibit their use entirely in residential areas. It died in 2024 as S217. It came back in January 2026 with a new number and the same intent. This one isn't going away.

Plastic bags, straws, and single-use everything

New Jersey's plastic bag ban has been state law since 2022, one of the strictest in the country. Single-use plastic bags are prohibited at checkout. So are paper bags at grocery stores. Polystyrene foam containers are banned too. Towns like Avalon, Belmar, Jersey City, and Longport had already moved on their own years before Trenton caught up, banning plastic bags and styrofoam as far back as 2018 and 2019.

If you still have a stash of plastic straws at home, use them while you can.

ALSO READ: NJ Democrats just resurrected gas leaf blower ban bill 

Associated Press

Boom cars and loud exhausts

The boom car law landed in 2023 and it has teeth. If your music can be heard from 50 feet away, you're looking at a fine between $250 and $500 on the first offense, climbing to $750 to $1,000 and two points on your license by the third. The push came from South Jersey mayors in Camden, Pennsauken, and Delran who had watched their neighborhoods rattle through the night long enough.

Loud mufflers are next. A bill currently moving through Trenton would raise fines for modified exhaust systems up to $500, targeting both the driver and the shop that did the work. The existing fine has been $25 for decades. Nobody has been enforcing it. That is about to change.

E-bikes and motorized scooters

Union County banned e-bikes and motorized scooters from all county parks and county property in late 2025, citing public safety after a series of accidents. Passaic County is doing the same thing in June 2026.  They are not the only counties watching. As e-bikes have exploded in popularity across New Jersey, expect more municipalities to follow.

Fire pits: the rules most people don't know

Your backyard fire pit is still legal, but the rules are tighter than most homeowners realize. The fire cannot exceed three feet in diameter and two feet in height. It must sit at least 25 feet from any structure or property line, or 15 feet if you're using an approved non-combustible container. Burning leaves, grass, or trash is already prohibited statewide.

If a neighbor complains, a fire official can order you to extinguish the fire immediately. No appeal. During drought conditions, the state can restrict wood-burning fires entirely.

EJ's gas powered fleet | photo by EJ

New Jersey bans to watch for in 2026

It is now June 2026 and S623 — the statewide gas leaf blower ban — is still moving through Trenton. The loud muffler bill is still moving. The e-bike restrictions are spreading county by county. The bill that would have banned all gas-powered lawn equipment, including lawn mowers and chainsaws, died in 2024 as A3906. Bills that die in Trenton come back. S217 died and came back as S623.

This list is not finished. It is never finished. Check back.