BILL REQ. #:  S-4348.2 

Read first time 01/18/2006.   Referred to Committee on Water, Energy & Environment.

     AN ACT Relating to off-road vehicle noise; amending RCW 46.09.120 and 46.09.170; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that, as the population of Washington and the popularity of recreational off-road vehicle use have increased, a growing number of informal off-road vehicle tracks and riding areas have emerged in residential areas. Excessive noise generated by off-road vehicle use in such areas has affected the residents of nearby properties, impacting property values, health, and the ability of residents to enjoy peace and quiet in their homes and yards.
     The legislature finds that, despite their efforts, many of those who live in close proximity to informal off-road vehicle riding areas have been unable to prompt their local governments to address noise issues.
     Therefore, the legislature intends to strengthen provisions governing off-road vehicle noise and to provide tools and resources to state agencies, local government, and citizens, in order to better protect individuals from the effects of excessive off-road vehicle noise in residential areas.

Sec. 2   RCW 46.09.120 and 2005 c 213 s 3 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)) ninety-six 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;
     (i) On any public lands in violation of rules and regulations of the agency administering such lands; and
     (j) On a private nonhighway road in violation of RCW 46.09.115(3).
     (2) It is a misdemeanor for any person to operate any nonhighway vehicle while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance.
     (3)(a) Except for an off-road vehicle equipped with seat belts and roll bars or an enclosed passenger compartment, it is a traffic infraction for any person to operate or ride an off-road vehicle on a nonhighway road without wearing upon his or her head a motorcycle helmet fastened securely while in motion. For purposes of this section, "motorcycle helmet" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 46.37.530.
     (b) Subsection (3)(a) of this section does not apply to an off-road vehicle operator operating on his or her own land.
     (c) Subsection (3)(a) of this section does not apply to an off-road vehicle operator operating on agricultural lands owned or leased by the off-road vehicle operator or the operator's employer.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   The department of ecology shall, by June 30, 2007:
     (1) Evaluate the adverse effects of off-road vehicle noise in residential areas; and
     (2) Revise the environmental noise rules and sound level measurement procedures adopted under chapter 70.107 RCW in order to:
     (a) Strengthen the decibel standards applied to off-road vehicle noise in order to address the adverse effects found by the department under subsection (1) of this section; and
     (b) Create alternative methods for the measurement of off-road vehicle sound levels or alternative environmental noise standards that would allow for the enforcement of noise standards without requiring the use of expensive equipment or a sophisticated measurement process.

Sec. 4   RCW 46.09.170 and 2004 c 105 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) From time to time, but at least once each year, the state treasurer shall refund from the motor vehicle fund one percent of the motor vehicle fuel tax revenues collected under chapter 82.36 RCW, based on a tax rate of: (a) Nineteen cents per gallon of motor vehicle fuel from July 1, 2003, through June 30, 2005; (b) twenty cents per gallon of motor vehicle fuel from July 1, 2005, through June 30, 2007; (c) twenty-one cents per gallon of motor vehicle fuel from July 1, 2007, through June 30, 2009; (d) twenty-two cents per gallon of motor vehicle fuel from July 1, 2009, through June 30, 2011; and (e) twenty-three cents per gallon of motor vehicle fuel beginning July 1, 2011, and thereafter, less proper deductions for refunds and costs of collection as provided in RCW 46.68.090.
     (2) The treasurer shall place these funds in the general fund as follows:
     (a) Thirty-six percent shall be credited to the ORV and nonhighway vehicle account and administered by the department of natural resources solely for acquisition, planning, development, maintenance, and management of ORV, nonmotorized, and nonhighway road recreation facilities, and information programs and maintenance of nonhighway roads;
     (b) Three and one-half percent shall be credited to the ORV and nonhighway vehicle account and administered by the department of fish and wildlife solely for the acquisition, planning, development, maintenance, and management of ORV, nonmotorized, and nonhighway road recreation facilities and the maintenance of nonhighway roads;
     (c) Two percent shall be credited to the ORV and nonhighway vehicle account and administered by the parks and recreation commission solely for the acquisition, planning, development, maintenance, and management of ORV, nonmotorized, and nonhighway road recreation facilities; and
     (d) Fifty-eight and one-half percent shall be credited to the nonhighway and off-road vehicle activities program account to be administered by the committee for planning, acquisition, development, maintenance, and management of ORV, nonmotorized, and nonhighway road recreation facilities and for education, information, and law enforcement programs. The funds under this subsection shall be expended in accordance with the following limitations:
     (i) Not more than thirty percent may be expended for education, information, and law enforcement programs under this chapter, including programs involving the enforcement of complaints concerning noise from off-road vehicles in private residential areas. The committee shall inform appropriate state and local agencies of the availability of funding for programs relating to off-road vehicle noise in residential areas and provide the agencies with instructions on how to apply for funds;
     (ii) Not less than seventy percent may be expended for ORV, nonmotorized, and nonhighway road recreation facilities. Except as provided in (d)(iii) of this subsection, of this amount:
     (A) Not less than thirty percent, together with the funds the committee receives under RCW 46.09.110, may be expended for ORV recreation facilities;
     (B) Not less than thirty percent may be expended for nonmotorized recreation facilities. Funds expended under this subsection (2)(d)(ii)(B) shall be known as Ira Spring outdoor recreation facilities funds; and
     (C) Not less than thirty percent may be expended for nonhighway road recreation facilities;
     (iii) The committee may waive the minimum percentage cited in (d)(ii) of this subsection due to insufficient requests for funds or projects that score low in the committee's project evaluation. Funds remaining after such a waiver must be allocated in accordance with committee policy.
     (3) On a yearly basis an agency may not, except as provided in RCW 46.09.110, expend more than ten percent of the funds it receives under this chapter for general administration expenses incurred in carrying out this chapter.
     (4) During the 2003-05 fiscal biennium, the legislature may appropriate such amounts as reflect the excess fund balance in the NOVA account to the interagency committee for outdoor recreation, the department of natural resources, the department of fish and wildlife, and the state parks and recreation commission. This appropriation is not required to follow the specific distribution specified in subsection (2) of this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   The municipal research council shall, by June 30, 2007, develop model ordinance options for local governments, including options for public disturbance noise ordinances that do not require the use of a decibel meter for enforcement and options for decibel-based noise ordinances.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   (1) The department of natural resources shall convene a working group to develop and propose policy strategies and legislation to address issues relating to access to public and private lands for recreational off-road vehicle use, including:
     (a) Proposals to improve and increase recreational off-road vehicle use opportunities on public lands where such use is compatible with other types of recreation and the environmental, habitat, and trust responsibilities of the department of natural resources and other public land managers;
     (b) Proposals for reducing the conflicts and safety issues posed by the growing pressure on public and private lands open to recreational off-road vehicle use, including recommendations for reducing noise and land use conflicts in residential neighborhoods and for reducing landowner liability through changes to the recreation use immunity statute, RCW 4.24.210; and
     (c) Proposals to ensure the existence of the financial resources necessary to provide access to public lands for recreational off-road vehicle use, including funding for agency planning and management activities, land stewardship and trail maintenance, and education and enforcement programs.
     (2) The working group consists of the following:
     (a) Two members from each of the two largest caucuses of the senate, appointed by the president of the senate;
     (b) Two members from each of the two largest caucuses of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives;
     (c) One member from the department of natural resources, appointed by the commissioner of public lands;
     (d) One member from the department of fish and wildlife, appointed by the director of the department of fish and wildlife;
     (e) One member from the state parks and recreation commission, appointed by the director of the state parks and recreation commission;
     (f) One member from the interagency committee for outdoor recreation, appointed by the director of the interagency committee for outdoor recreation;
     (g) One member representing county governments, appointed by the Washington state association of counties;
     (h) One member representing the United States forest service, invited by the commissioner of public lands;
     (i) Two members representing off-road vehicle recreational user groups, invited by the commissioner of public lands;
     (j) Two members representing nonmotorized recreational user groups, invited by the governor;
     (k) One member representing private land managers, invited by the governor;
     (l) One member representing the off-road vehicle industry, invited by the governor;
     (m) One member representing an environmental protection organization, appointed by the governor;
     (n) One member representing local law enforcement, invited by the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs; and
     (o) One member representing those residents of residential areas who are impacted by unwanted off-road vehicle noise, appointed by the governor.
     (3) In carrying out its duties, the working group shall hold no fewer than six meetings, shall provide notice of its meetings on the department of natural resources' web site, and shall take testimony and accept information and suggestions from interested citizens and organizations.
     (4) The working group shall provide its policy strategies and legislative proposals to the appropriate policy and fiscal committees of the senate and house of representatives by December 31, 2006.
     (5) This section expires June 30, 2007.