United States EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt has signed a final rule that establishes the first new emission standards for highway motorcycles in 25 years. The EPA rules set new emissions standards that are the same as those adopted by the state of California, but will go into effect two years after California's standards.
The first tier of the new national standards will go into effect in 2006 and a second tier in 2010. The California standard that begins with the current model year, 2004, and the federal standard that will take effect for the 2006 model year, require new motorcycles to emit no more than 1.4 grams per kilometer traveled of hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, and 12 grams per kilometer of carbon monoxide. The 2006 standards will require reductions in emissions of HC and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) by 60 percent. Before passage of the new federal rule, federal emissions standards for street motorcycles were 5.0 grams of hydrocarbons and 12 grams of carbon monoxide per kilometer traveled.
Some motorcycles sold in the United States already meet California's strict 2008 standards, which are the same as the planned federal EPA 2010 standard. The EPA is also adopting standards, beginning in 2008, requiring the control of fuel loss (called "permeation") through the fuel hoses and fuel tank.
The new standards will include previously unregulated small scooters and mopeds. However, the new rules give small-volume motorcycle manufacturers an exemption in meeting the new standards, and provide for exemptions for certain motorcycles.
These new national emissions standards are expected to result in an increased use of fuel injection and catalytic converters on new motorcycles. The EPA states that new emission controls will cost an average of $75 per motorcycle when the final phase takes effect in 2010. The average cost of current motorcycles is about $10,000.
The government claims that when the new rule is in full effect, it will reduce emissions of hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) by about 54,000 tons a year and save approximately 12 million gallons of fuel annually by preventing it from escaping from fuel hoses and fuel tanks.
Under the new rule, manufacturers who build fewer than 3,000 motorcycles a year, and who have fewer than 500 employees, don't need to meet the first-tier emissions standards until 2008. They also aren't required to meet the second-tier standards.
The EPA also provides certain exemptions for "kit" and custom motorcycles and will contain no new rules regarding changes that owners may do legally to customize their bikes.
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