ALEXANDRIA, Va. – For the last two years, the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute (OPEI) has been working with the staff of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to improve exhaust standards and emission regulations in the state.
Recently, CARB issued a proposed regulation that would have required wheeled products to install high-efficiency/high-heat generating catalysts in order to meet exhaust standards, which were 50 percent more stringent than the current Tier II standards. CARB’s proposal would also have required all lawn and garden equipment to be subject to shed-based performance testing to demonstrate that the entire piece of equipment complied with an overall evaporative/diurnal emission standard.
But, in direct response to OPEI’s efforts, CARB has unanimously adopted a modified alternative framework. The new guideline relaxes the CARB’s proposed Tier III exhaust standards and substantially improves the overall general framework for the still-to-be-defined evaporative emission regulations.
CARB has adopted the industry’s proposed exhaust standards, which are roughly 25 percent less stringent for Class I engines (less than 225 cc displacement) and 33 percent less stringent for Class II engines (greater than 225 cc displacement). Based on an economic study prepared for OPEI, the compliance costs of the industry counterproposal should be roughly one-third less than the costs associated with the initial plan.
CARB’s original exhaust and evaporative standards proposal would have increased the average compliance cost for lawn mowers by $106 and the average compliance cost for riding mowers by $321. CARB’s adopted less stringent exhaust and more flexible evaporative program are expected to result in an average total compliance cost increase of $73 for walk-behind-mowers and $189 for riding mowers.
OPEI is an international trade association representing the manufacturers and their suppliers of consumer and commercial outdoor power equipment.