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EPA: Cut Mower Emissions

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The Associated Press

Published: September 5, 2008

WASHINGTON - Gasoline-powered lawnmowers that are a big cause of summertime air pollution will have to be dramatically cleaner under rules issued Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The long-awaited regulation requires a 35 percent reduction in emissions from new lawn and garden equipment beginning in 2011. Big emission reductions also are required for speedboats and other recreational watercraft beginning in 2010.

The reductions will be the equivalent of removing one out of every five cars and trucks on the road, according to Bill Becker, executive director of the National Association of Clean Air Agencies.

EPA said about 190 million gallons of gasoline will be saved each year when the rules take effect, and more than 300 premature deaths prevented annually.

"These standards help fight smog in our neighborhoods and waterways," EPA administrator Stephen Johnson said.

The regulation was delayed for years by opposition from Sen. Kit Bond, R-Mo., who took up the cause of small-engine manufacturer Briggs & Stratton Corp., which builds many of its engines in Missouri. The final rule was issued more than a year after the draft rule came out in April 2007.

EPA estimated the cost of implementing the reductions at $236 million a year, which likely will make its way to consumers in the form of more expensive lawnmowers and other machines.

Industry groups said exact figures were difficult to calculate, but the California Air Resources Board has estimated that walk-behind mowers would cost 18 percent more under the new regulation, while the price of commercial turf care mowers would rise about 3 percent.

"It's been an undertaking," said Kris Kiser, vice president of public affairs at the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute. "Challenging, but again, fair and achievable and it's the right thing to do."

Environmentalists welcomed the rule, which applies to lawn care engines under 25 horsepower and to a full range of personal watercraft. The rule requires a 70 percent reduction in emissions from recreational watercraft.

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