Panel to consider more rules for boating on Lake Tahoe

     Associated Press
      SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. -- Two weeks ago, the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's governing board set in motion a proposal to phase out old two-cycle engines from Lake Tahoe within two years.
      On Friday, a committee representing public and private interests will wrestle over other proposals that together would seek to minimize the noise and other impacts from boating on Lake Tahoe.
      Among the proposed rules:
      --A cap on the number of personal watercraft on the lake.
      --Larger no-wake zones to reduce noise and protect sensitive areas.
      --A certification program to ensure engines are tuned for Lake Tahoe's altitude, and fees to mitigate nitrogen-oxide emissions.
      --Possible reductions in hours for watercraft rental companies and a freeze on the number of rental permits.
      The proposed regulations are aimed at addressing the impact of boating in the two years before older models of two-cycle engines are banned from the lake, said Jerry Wells, the agency's deputy director.
      The proposals are expected to meet resistance from members of the Lake Tahoe boating community. Besides the phaseout of carbureted two-cycle engines, the restrictions on rental hours and possible new fees may be the most objectionable to boating interests.
      Gregg Lien, a Tahoe City attorney who represents the lake's watercraft concessionaires, called the possible reduction in hours of rental operations a major stumbling block.
      Lien said the most important question to the rental operators is whether marine manufacturers can produce a direct-injection personal watercraft by June 1999 that would allow the concessionaires to switch to cleaner engines.
      Representatives of two of the lake's yacht clubs said their members remain adamantly opposed to the proposed phaseout of most existing two-cycle engines, even when they are not personally affected.
      "The club's members are furious," said Marvin Goshorn of the South Lake Tahoe Yacht Club. "They feel that the TRPA is following one man's -- Steve Wynn's -- feeling about the subject. Even a phaseout didn't appeal to too many people."
      Wynn, chairman of Mirage Resorts Inc. and a member of the agency's board, has been a strong voice opposing the personal watercraft on the lake.
      Goshorn said his members challenge the agency's authority to implement restrictions on boating at Lake Tahoe, and that many fear a ban on older two-cycle engines could be a prelude to more widespread restrictions on boating.
      Craig Miller, of the 600-member Tahoe Yacht Club, said his members oppose the two-cycle ban.
      Miller said some of the proposals, such as requiring boat engines be tuned for Tahoe, are good ideas but will not be easy to implement or enforce.
      His club shares the South Lake Tahoe Yacht Club's wariness over the proposed restrictions, Miller said.
      "Frankly, we see this as a tip of the iceberg," Miller said. "They start with personal watercraft, then get outboards off the lake and then look at all boating activity on the lake. Maybe we'll all be in canoes sooner or later."