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September 5, 2008
E.P.A. Issues New Engine Rules
By DAVID STOUT
WASHINGTON ? Announcing what it called new ?surf and turf? standards, the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday set stricter antipollution rules for engines that run pleasure boats, lawn mowers and weed trimmers.
The agency said the rules would take effect in 2011 for lawn and garden equipment of 25 horsepower or less, and in 2010 for a wide range of inboard and outboard boat engines. Meeting the requirements will probably mean that catalytic converters, standard in modern cars, will become commonplace in lawn-equipment and boat engines.
As if to head off any notion that it is just not worth the trouble to make boats, mowers and weed trimmers cleaner to run, the agency?s administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, offered some attention-getting estimates.
?When fully implemented,? Mr. Johnson said, ?the rule will yield annual emission reductions of 600,000 tons of hydrocarbons, 130,000 tons of nitrogen oxide, 5,500 tons of direct particulate matter and 1.5 million tons of carbon monoxide.?
Furthermore, he added, Americans could save about 190 million gallons of gasoline each year.
The new rules, which were initially resisted by engine-makers, are expected to make lawn-equipment and boat engines more expensive.
But the agency said the public health benefits would more than compensate for initial consumer costs, and environmentalists agreed. ?Cleaner lawn mowers mean less summertime smog and healthier air for millions of kids,? said Vickie Patton of the Environmental Defense Fund.
E.P.A. Issues New Engine Rules
By DAVID STOUT
WASHINGTON ? Announcing what it called new ?surf and turf? standards, the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday set stricter antipollution rules for engines that run pleasure boats, lawn mowers and weed trimmers.
The agency said the rules would take effect in 2011 for lawn and garden equipment of 25 horsepower or less, and in 2010 for a wide range of inboard and outboard boat engines. Meeting the requirements will probably mean that catalytic converters, standard in modern cars, will become commonplace in lawn-equipment and boat engines.
As if to head off any notion that it is just not worth the trouble to make boats, mowers and weed trimmers cleaner to run, the agency?s administrator, Stephen L. Johnson, offered some attention-getting estimates.
?When fully implemented,? Mr. Johnson said, ?the rule will yield annual emission reductions of 600,000 tons of hydrocarbons, 130,000 tons of nitrogen oxide, 5,500 tons of direct particulate matter and 1.5 million tons of carbon monoxide.?
Furthermore, he added, Americans could save about 190 million gallons of gasoline each year.
The new rules, which were initially resisted by engine-makers, are expected to make lawn-equipment and boat engines more expensive.
But the agency said the public health benefits would more than compensate for initial consumer costs, and environmentalists agreed. ?Cleaner lawn mowers mean less summertime smog and healthier air for millions of kids,? said Vickie Patton of the Environmental Defense Fund.
