Tougher Anti-Pollution Curbs Placed on Watercraft
New boats and personal watercraft--some of the dirtiest machines made today--will no longer spew large volumes of unburned fuel into California’s air and water under stringent new pollution limits adopted Thursday.
Manufacturers waged a vigorous fight against the new emission standards, predicting that consumers won’t be able to afford new motorboats, and that California’s boating and recreation industries could be decimated.
But the state Air Resources Board remained unswayed by the economic argument because watercraft engines are one of the last major polluters that remain unregulated in the state’s battle against smog.
A conventional Jet Ski or similar product used for just seven hours spews more smog-forming pollution than a new car driven 100,000 miles.
Statewide, the boats emit about 777 tons of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides on a typical weekend day in the summer--when smog sieges often occur. That is about 50% more than the exhaust coming from all passenger cars on California roads on a typical weekend, according to the air board.
Pollution from pleasure craft could help partially explain why smog bouts in the Los Angeles Basin in recent years have been worse on Saturdays and Sundays. About 30% of the pollution from the engines occurs in the basin.
Also late Thursday, the board was expected to tighten standards for motorcycles, which, like watercraft, are far more primitive in pollution control than automobiles. A motorcycle today emits 10 to 15 times more pollutants per mile than a new car.
Cleaner technologies--fuel injection and four-stroke engines--already exist for some watercraft. Motorcycles would require catalytic converters to meet the new standards.
Only new watercraft and motorcycles must comply with the new ruling; old ones are unaffected.
The air board leaves outgoing Gov. Pete Wilson with a strong clean-air legacy, adopting a trio of smog standards for California amid a barrage of criticism from influential industries. In addition to targeting boats and motorcycles, the board last month set new standards for cars and sport utility vehicles.
About half a million motorboats and personal watercraft cruise California’s lakes, rivers and ocean waters.
For new marine engines, beginning in 2001, emissions will be cut 70% over today’s models, with the ultimate mandate a 90% reduction in 2008.
The air board estimates that the average price of a boat engine will increase 14%, or $250 to $2,300, depending on the horsepower. But the cleaner engines will burn less gasoline, giving the consumer a fuel savings of $300 to $6,000 over the life of the vehicle, which would offset the higher purchase price.
Manufacturers say that the costs could grow much higher, over three times more than the air board predicts, or as much as $7,700 per engine by 2008.
Buyers of recreational equipment are “enormously sensitive to price,” so the standards “will have a huge impact on how many products we sell,” said Los Angeles attorney Robert Wyman, representing the boat manufacturers.
Outboard Marine, Mercury Marine, Suzuki and other manufacturers endorsed the 2001 mandate--and an intermediate one for 2004--saying that they probably are achievable with known technologies. But they vigorously fought the 2008 deadline, saying that it cannot be met at a reasonable cost, so many products may become unavailable to California consumers.
Tom Cackette, the air board’s deputy executive officer, disagrees, saying that the staff’s study of the industry’s technology leaves them confident that there will be a multitude of outboards and personal watercraft available.
For motorcycles, exhaust must be cleaner in 2004 and still cleaner in 2008, when they probably will require catalytic converters. The cost of a motorcycle is expected to rise about $100, or slightly more than 1%. One major concern is that motorcyclists may disable catalysts because they think it will improve the engine’s performance.
Watercraft Rules Are More Controversial
The watercraft regulation was far more controversial than the one aimed at motorcycles because of the steep costs of cleaning up the marine engines and the larger volumes of pollution they cause.
About 110 tons of pollutants per day will be eliminated from watercraft on a typical summer weekend day by 2010. That is more than the pollution cut by the annual Smog Check program for cars.
Personal watercraft--made by Yamaha, Kawasaki, Bombardier and other companies--are the worst-polluting internal combustion engines operating in California today. They are highly polluting because they are powered by dirty and fuel-guzzling two-stroke engines, and unlike lawn mowers, they are operated at fast speeds.
Boat engine manufacturers will gradually be forced to the much cleaner and quieter four-stroke technology. The remaining two-stroke engines probably will need catalysts by 2008.
Some companies already sell cleaner, direct-injection, two-stroke personal watercraft and four-stroke outboards.
The new regulation requires environmental labels for watercraft that will tell consumers where a product rates in terms of emissions.
The boat industry says that it has spent half a billion dollars cleaning up the engines to meet national pollution standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
But the air board’s action accelerates the pace in California--making the initial deadline 2001 instead of the EPA’s 2006. California, under pressure to clean up its smog, frequently adopts stronger standards than the national ones set by the EPA.
Wyman said the costs are reasonable for the first two phases of California’s new standard, but the added cost of reducing emissions an extra 5% in 2008 is “enormous,” and some companies worry that sales will drop so low that they will go out of business. Developing a catalyst that works in water could cost millions of dollars.
Boat dealers said the rules could lead to product shortages and confusion that would hurt small businesses.
“If you go this fast, it will be a lose-lose [proposition] for everyone,” said Mary Kirwin Veloz, representing a coalition of boat dealers, marina operators and fishermen. “Our retailers will lose money and sales, and they will have to lay off staff.”
In addition to smog, watercraft are a major source of water pollution in Lake Tahoe and other waterways in California.
Almost one-third of the gasoline and fuel oil that personal watercraft consume winds up polluting the water and air. Each one emits 50 to 60 gallons of unburned gasoline into the environment annually, based on less than an hour of use weekly, according to an air board report.
The number of personal watercraft in California has exploded, jumping 240% since 1990, and is expected to double again by 2010.
“This is a source that is way overdue and badly in need of regulation,” said Todd Campbell of the environmental group Coalition for Clean Air.
