Regulations
Overview
The most widely publicized snowmobile regulations are those being formulated by the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The NPS Winter Use Plan signed in January 2001 calls for snowmobiles to be phased out of Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park, and the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway. Under the plan, snowmobilers would be allowed to continue using the parks during the winters of 2001-2 with some new restrictions. Use would continue during 2002-3, but at a 50 percent reduced level. In 2003-4 snowmobiles would be banned completely from the parks. As of 2010, a limited number of snowmobiles are allowed to enter the park each day as part of a temporary plan. The machines are "best available technology" and the users are guided. The NPS contemplates phasing out snowmobiles in Yellowstone by the 2011-12 season.
EPA has been looking at snowmobile emissions to some degree ever since the 1970s, under pressure from the Sierra Club and other groups. EPA undertook a systematic examination of "non-road" engines in 1991. In 1994, the agency determined that non-road engines as a whole "are significant contributors to ozone or carbon monoxide concentrations" in more than one ozone or carbon monoxide non-attainment area. Since reaching this conclusion, EPA has been developing standards and programs to control emissions from non-road engines used in many different applications, as the agency is required to do by the Clean Air Act. Once these standards are finalized, it is expected that nearly all new non-road engines will be required to meet emissions requirements.
Selected Links
Go to the Publications and Links section for a more complete list, including related or overlapping topics.
A summary of pending regulations for snowmobiles and other vehicles and equipment is available from EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality.
The best and most current information on snowmobile regulations for the entire National Park system is available from the National Park Service, through the agency's searchable website.
The National Park Service publishes an annual winter use guide to Yellowstone National Park.
In October 2000, the National Park Service produced a massive winter use plan and environmental impact statement for Yellowstone National Park and nearby areas:
National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Winter Use Plans: Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., Memorial Parkway. October 2000. (523 pages)
The Yellowstone/Grand Teton snowmobile Final Rule, describing the snowmobile phaseout plan, was published in the Federal Register on Monday, January 22, 2001.
All states have laws and rules regarding the operation of snowmobiles. The American Council of Snowmobile Associations provides a state-by-state summary.
