Outdoor Power Equipment (Lawn Mowers, Snow Blowers, Chain Saws and more) Discussions

US Senate panel delays lawn mower clean air plans
Thu Jun 9, 2005 06:31 PM ET
By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON, June 9 (Reuters) - A Senate committee on Thursday sought to delay the development of federal rules that would clamp down on emissions from lawn mowers and other high-polluting outdoor equipment.

The measure, introduced by Sen. Christoper Bond, a Missouri Republican, would force the Bush administration to perform more reviews before going ahead with new air pollution standards for 66 million lawn mowers and millions of gas-powered trimmers in the United States.

Environmentalists accused Bond of trying to protect a home-state engine manufacturer.

Missouri is home to two Briggs and Stratton plants that employ about 2,000 workers. The company, based in Wisconsin, is the world's largest manufacturer of small, air-cooled engines for outdoor power equipment, including lawn mowers.

The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the measure and attached it to next year's funding bill for the Environmental Protection Agency. It must be passed by the full Senate.

A similar bill passed by the House of Representatives does not contain the Bond initiative.

OZONE FORMATION

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson told reporters on Wednesday that he thought his agency would issue regulations this year, possibly before the end of summer, to reduce the high levels of carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides that are released into the air by these unregulated small engines.

The agency says the engines are the source of a significant amount of pollution that contributes to the formation of ozone.

But following the Senate panel's vote, environmentalists predicted that timetable, which already had been delayed once by Bond, would be set back again.

William Becker, executive director of a group of state and local air pollution control officials, said it could be 2008 before final rules are set.

"Senator Bond walked away from a handshake that he had" in 2003, Becker said, that produced a legislative compromise stopping states from issuing their own pollution controls on small engines.

Under that compromise, the EPA was to have finalized rules by the end of this year to create national standards.

With the EPA getting closer to proposing regulations, Bond sought another delay this week, saying there should be further studies of the safety of attaching catalytic converters to lawn mowers to control emissions.

He argued that the hot-burning converters could pose a safety risk by igniting grass and leaves in dry areas.

Rob Ostrander, a spokesman for Bond, said the senator "sees the need for the reduced emissions. But he recognizes the need to make sure before these regulations are finalized that we should understand the safety implications."


© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.

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