Snowmobiles: Environmental Standards and Access to National Parks

Publication Date: December 2004

Publisher: Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Author(s):

Research Area: Environment

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Abstract:

The use of snowmobiles in national parks has been controversial because of their potential impacts on wildlife and the absence of standards for their emissions and noise. This report focuses on the latter set of issues.

Congress has addressed snowmobile issues primarily through provisions in appropriations bills. On November 20, 2004, the House and Senate approved the conference report on H.R. 4818, the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2005 (P.L. 108-447). Among its many provisions, the bill establishes winter use rules for Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, allowing up to 720 snowmobiles daily in Yellowstone and 140 in Grand Teton, during the 2004-2005 winter season. Earlier the House voted twice against amendments to Interior Department appropriation bills that would have prohibited recreational snowmobiling in the two parks.

Most current model snowmobiles emit significant quantities of pollution. In one hour, a typical snowmobile emits as much hydrocarbon as a 2001 model auto emits in about two years (24,300 miles) of driving. On November 8, 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) promulgated regulations limiting air emissions from snowmobiles. These regulations would require a 30% reduction in emissions beginning in 2006, with more stringent standards (requiring 50% reductions) effective in 2010 and 2012. The standards were challenged in court by both the snowmobile manufacturers and environmental groups and were vacated in part and remanded to EPA in part by the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, June 1, 2004. EPA has not promulgated any standards for snowmobile noise.

Regarding national parks, the National Park Service has allowed snowmobile use in 43 units of the park system, in many cases in apparent violation of Executive Orders from the Nixon and Carter years. Outside of Alaska (where snowmobiles are permitted in most national parks by law), the most popular national park for snowmobiling has been Yellowstone, which saw more than 76,000 snowmobile visits in the 1999-2000 winter season. Under the Clinton Administration, the National Park Service decided that the emissions and noise from snowmobiling were incompatible with protecting the park, and promulgated rules that would have phased out snowmobiles from Yellowstone, with a complete ban beginning in the winter of 2003-2004. The Bush Administration revisited these rules in settlement of a lawsuit, and announced modifications in March 2003. The modifications would have allowed 950 cleaner, quieter snowmobiles to enter Yellowstone Park per day. These rules and the Clinton Administration action have been the subject of conflicting court rulings: a federal court in Wyoming has vacated and remanded the Clinton Administration's phaseout, while a federal court in the District of Columbia has vacated and remanded the Bush Administration rules.

Efforts to reduce snowmobile emissions and noise remain contentious. This report discusses snowmobile access to the parks, snowmobile emissions, and the new EPA standards, and concludes with a discussion of legislative proposals in the 107th and 108th Congresses. It will be updated as events warrant.