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FINAL RULE ISSUED TO REDUCE POLLUTION FROM LAWN AND GARDEN ENGINES
Release Date: 03/09/2000
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2000
FINAL RULE ISSUED TO REDUCE POLLUTION
FROM LAWN AND GARDEN ENGINES
New emission reduction standards are now in place for small hand-held engines at or below 25 horsepower that are used in lawn and garden equipment such as trimmers and chainsaws. When the new standards are fully in place in 2007, the ground-level ozone pollution caused by these engines will be cut by 70 percent or 350,000 tons each year. The 20,000,000 small engines sold each year contribute about one tenth of the total U.S. mobile source hydrocarbon emissions and are the largest single contributor to these non-road emissions. Since this equipment is used mostly during the hot summer months, when ground-level ozone is the highest, it causes problems for asthmatics and aggravates other respiratory conditions. These new standards will also increase fuel efficiency by 30 percent which will lower consumer operating costs. Manufacturers of hand-held garden engines have already made significant improvements in emission control technologies since the first standards became effective in 1997. The final rule will be published in the Federal Register during the week of March 13 2000, and can be found at: www.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/ace140.html. Information about the mobile sources program is found at: www.epa.gov/otag.
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