BILL REQ. #:  H-3461.1 

Read first time 01/14/2004.   Referred to Committee on Transportation.

     AN ACT Relating to reducing nuisance noise from off-road vehicles; amending RCW 46.09.120 and 46.09.190; and prescribing penalties.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 46.09.120 and 2003 c 377 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) It is a traffic infraction for any person to operate any nonhighway vehicle:
     (a) In such a manner as to endanger the property of another;
     (b) On lands not owned by the operator or owner of the nonhighway vehicle without a lighted headlight and taillight between the hours of dusk and dawn, or when otherwise required for the safety of others regardless of ownership;
     (c) On lands not owned by the operator or owner of the nonhighway vehicle without an adequate braking device or when otherwise required for the safety of others regardless of ownership;
     (d) Without a spark arrester approved by the department of natural resources;
     (e) Without an adequate, and operating, muffling device which effectively limits vehicle noise to no more than eighty-six decibels on the "A" scale at fifty feet as measured by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) test procedure J 331a, except that a maximum noise level of one hundred and five decibels on the "A" scale at a distance of twenty inches from the exhaust outlet shall be an acceptable substitute in lieu of the Society of Automotive Engineers test procedure J 331a when measured:
     (i) At a forty-five degree angle at a distance of twenty inches from the exhaust outlet;
     (ii) With the vehicle stationary and the engine running at a steady speed equal to one-half of the manufacturer's maximum allowable ("red line") engine speed or where the manufacturer's maximum allowable engine speed is not known the test speed in revolutions per minute calculated as sixty percent of the speed at which maximum horsepower is developed; and
     (iii) With the microphone placed ten inches from the side of the vehicle, one-half way between the lowest part of the vehicle body and the ground plane, and in the same lateral plane as the rearmost exhaust outlet where the outlet of the exhaust pipe is under the vehicle;
     (f) On lands not owned by the operator or owner of the nonhighway vehicle upon the shoulder or inside bank or slope of any nonhighway road or highway, or upon the median of any divided highway;
     (g) On lands not owned by the operator or owner of the nonhighway vehicle in any area or in such a manner so as to unreasonably expose the underlying soil, or to create an erosion condition, or to injure, damage, or destroy trees, growing crops, or other vegetation;
     (h) On lands not owned by the operator or owner of the nonhighway vehicle or on any nonhighway road or trail, when these are restricted to pedestrian or animal travel; ((and))
     (i) On lands zoned as residential within two hundred fifty feet of another property owner's residence, or within two hundred fifty feet of another property owner's barn, stable, penned area, or similar structure or confined area occupied by any livestock, as defined by RCW 16.36.005, in a repetitive manner or on a track for purposes of recreation or practicing for races, jumps, tests, or similar purposes. A person who is guilty of violating this subsection is subject on the first offense to a fine of not less than one hundred dollars. On each subsequent violation, the person is subject to twice the amount of fine as on the last infraction; and
     (j) On any public lands in violation of rules and regulations of the agency administering such lands.
     (2) It is a misdemeanor for any person to operate any nonhighway vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance.

Sec. 2   RCW 46.09.190 and 1979 ex.s. c 136 s 42 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided in RCW ((46.09.120(2))) 46.09.120 (1)(j) and (2) and 46.09.130 as now or hereafter amended, violation of the provisions of this chapter is a traffic infraction for which a penalty of not less than twenty-five dollars may be imposed.
     (2) In addition to the penalties provided in subsection (1) of this section, the owner and/or the operator of any nonhighway vehicle shall be liable for any damage to property including damage to trees, shrubs, or growing crops injured as the result of travel by the nonhighway vehicle. The owner of such property may recover from the person responsible three times the amount of damage.