US introduces tough new emissions standards… on lawnmowers

Tough new rules governing the fuel efficiency of road vehicles may still be subject to a long-running legal wrangle between the US Environmental Protection Agency and a group of states led by California, but at least the same cannot be said of small engines after the Agency last week introduced stringent new standards for a wide range of small motors.

Lawnmowers, weed trimmers, personal watercraft and speedboats are all covered by the new rules, which should see catalytic converters fitted to small engines for the first time.

Under the legislation, all new recreational watercraft will, from 2010, have to cut emissions of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxide (NOx) by 70 per cent, carbon monoxide (CO) emissions by 20 per cent, and emissions of fuel evaporative by 70 per cent.

Similar rules requiring lawnmowers and other garden equipment to cut emissions of hydrocarbon (HC) and NOx by 35 per cent and fuel evaporative emissions by 45 per cent will then take effect from 2011.

"EPA's new small engine standards will allow Americans to cut air pollution as well as grass," said EPA administrator Stephen L Johnson. "These standards help fight smog in our neighbourhoods and waterways as we continue to improve the environmental landscape."

While some environmentalists may be tempted to mock efforts to curb emissions from small engines at a time when the EPA is being sued by a group of states led by California over its blocking of their attempts to impose tougher standards on road vehicles, the Agency insists that the new rules will deliver deep cuts in pollution levels.

It claimed that when fully implemented, the new rules will see annual emission reductions totalling 600,000 tons of hydrocarbons, 130,000 tones of NOx, 5,500 tons of particulate matter and 1.5m tons of CO. As a result the agency expects the legislation to deliver between $1.6 and $4.4 billion by 2030, save 300 lives a year and save 190m gallons of gasoline a year.