EPA TO TARGET MARINE INDUSTRY IN EFFORT TO CUT POLLUTION.

Byline: The New York Times

The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to issue federal regulations next week that for the first time will cut pollution from new recreational watercraft ranging from self-propelled water skis to yachts.

The rules, which are designed to cut hydrocarbon emissions by 75 percent, also will raise the prices of new engines by an average of $1,000 over the next few years, engine makers said. However, the savings in fuel costs could compensate boat owners by nearly a third of the increase.

The rules, which the marine industry is backing, represent the latest attempt by regulators to look beyond the automobile - whose emission levels have declined 90 percent since 1975 - and attack other sources of pollution such as motorboats and garden equipment. While marine engines contribute only 3 percent of total pollution annually, they account for a higher percentage in the summertime in areas where boating is popular, including the Midwest and the Northeast, where the contribution can sometimes reach 10 percent to 15 percent of total pollution.

The new rules, which will be phased in over 10 years, are ``ushering in a new generation'' of engines, which have remained essentially unchanged since the 1930s, said Deanne North, who works at the EPA's National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich., and who led the development of the rules.

The new rules center on smaller, two-stroke outboard motors that hang on the back of small boats and have a tendency not to fully burn their fuel, resulting in excessive, dirty exhaust. According to the EPA, running such an outboard motor for one hour releases the same amount of smog-producing pollutants as driving a car 800 miles.