Apparently President Bush and his merry men were too busy interfering with EPA ozone standards last week to notice that the agency approved new stringent pollution controls for marine and locomotive diesel engines.

Even most environmental groups praised the new rules, which will require that all diesel engines on new ships and locomotives produce 90 percent less soot and 80 percent less nitrogen oxide by 2015. The new standards will apply to all engines, regardless of age, by 2030.

Embattled EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson said the new rules could help prevent 1,400 premature deaths and 120,000 lost workdays annually by 2030, saving as much as $12 billion.

Despite the, uh, lengthy timeline afforded to industry with these regs, we give the EPA a thumbs up for addressing a serious problem. These engines emit more than 1 million tons of nitrogen oxide and find particulate matter each year. EPA even accelerated its original proposed deadline for cutting the pollutants by two years.

We should note, however, that these new rules only apply to ships traveling on inland waterways and between U.S. ports, including ferries and tugboats. The agency is expected to propose emissions standards for oceangoing ships next year.