MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Bigger boat motors would mean bigger state registration fees under a plan approved by the Legislature's budget committee.

The proposal, passed by the Joint Finance Committee 13-3, would create a surcharge for boats with high-horsepower engines, such as cigarette boats, to cover any extra safety and noise problems they may cause.

Boat registration fees now range from $2.50 per year for motorboats less than 16 feet long to $25 per year for motorboats more than 40 feet in length.  The fees bring $3.5 million to $4 million annually to the state Department of Natural Resources.

If the horsepower fees are passed as part of the proposed 1999-2001 budget, the DNR would decide the amount of the fees and the levels of horsepower that would qualify for them.

"There are some tremendously powerful boats out there and they're paying very little and potentially causing tremendous damage," said Sen. Robert Cowles, who sponsored the motion.

Cowles, R-Green Bay, said the boats not only cause extra safety concerns but they also are noisier.  Under the plan, boats less than 16 feet long could not be charged more than twice the normal registration fee.

Cowles said he included that restriction to exclude smaller fishing boats that aren't problematic since they don't usually go very fast, despite engine size.

It has not been estimated how much extra money the proposal would raise, but it would go toward providing extra water safety, such as hiring more conservation wardens for boating law enforcement, Cowles said.

Currently, boat registration is based on boat length.  Sen. Kevin Shibilski said basing registration only on length doesn't address certain problems.

"Horsepower gets at the problem more than length," said Shibilski, D-Stevens Point.  "The bigger the motor, the more annoying the activity."

The owner of one water sports store said the increased fees would be a waste of time.

"What I've seen of the industry, if a guy spends $300,000 on a boat and the registration goes from $12 to $18, I don't think he's going to balk at that too much," said Rob Strauss of Rob's Performance Water Sports in Johnson Creek.

The Joint Finance Committee also voted to make boat registration fees last three years rather than the current two years.  The per-year registration cost would remain the same.