If you’ve got a noisy boat, it’s time to fix it. Because of lots of complaints, DIF&W is proposing new noise rules and testing procedures. Here’s the info from DIF&W.
The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has received complaints from waterfront property owners and visitors throughout the years regarding excessive watercraft noise. As complaints appear to be increasing, the Department is proposing rules for testing guidelines and devices to determine whether or not watercraft are operating at acceptable decibel levels or exceeding the threshold set in statute, Title 12 MRS, Section 10368-A (10).
The Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is proposing rules to develop motorboat testing procedures to determine if operation is occuring at decibel levels higher than 90 decibels when subjected to a stationary test, or 75 decibels when subjected to an operational test. These rules are based on the national standard, SAE J 2005, that provide specific guidelines for testing of marine engines.
The rule will point to the national standards, SAE J2005 – JUN2018, for stationary sound level measurement procedure, and SAE J34 – JUN2018, for exterior operational sound level measurement procedure for recreational motorboats. A copy of these standards may be purchased by the public and will be used by law enforcement to test and determine at what decibel level the watercraft is operating at. The standards will provide specific guidelines for testing marine engines as well as prescribe the testing devices and outline critical training and certifications required to test for decibel output.