| 1 | A bill to be entitled |
| 2 | An act relating to airboats; amending s. 327.391, |
| 3 | F.S.; requiring the Fish and Wildlife Conservation |
| 4 | Commission to establish a voluntary sound-testing |
| 5 | program for airboats; allowing airboats that test |
| 6 | below a specified sound level to be operated on all |
| 7 | navigable waters of the state, including waterways on |
| 8 | which airboats are prohibited by local ordinance; |
| 9 | requiring a fee; providing testing requirements; |
| 10 | amending s. 327.60, F.S.; requiring a super majority |
| 11 | vote to enact certain ordinances regulating airboats; |
| 12 | amending s. 327.65, F.S., relating to muffling devices |
| 13 | on vessels; conforming provisions to changes made by |
| 14 | the act; providing an effective date. |
| 15 |
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| 16 | Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: |
| 17 |
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| 18 | Section 1. Section 327.391, Florida Statutes, is amended |
| 19 | to read: |
| 20 | 327.391 Airboats regulated.- |
| 21 | (1) The exhaust of every internal combustion engine used |
| 22 | on any airboat operated on the waters of this state shall be |
| 23 | provided with an automotive-style factory muffler, underwater |
| 24 | exhaust, or other manufactured device capable of adequately |
| 25 | muffling the sound of the exhaust of the engine as described in |
| 26 | s. 327.02(24). The use of cutouts or flex pipe as the sole |
| 27 | source of muffling is prohibited, except as provided in |
| 28 | subsection (4). Any person who violates this subsection commits |
| 29 | a noncriminal infraction punishable as provided in s. 327.73(1). |
| 30 | (2) An airboat operator cited for an infraction of |
| 31 | subsection (1) may not operate the airboat until a muffler as |
| 32 | defined in s. 327.02 is installed. |
| 33 | (3) An airboat may not operate on the waters of the state |
| 34 | unless it is equipped with a mast or flagpole bearing a flag at |
| 35 | a height of at least 10 feet above the lowest portion of the |
| 36 | vessel. The flag must be square or rectangular, at least 10 |
| 37 | inches by 12 inches in size, international orange in color, and |
| 38 | displayed so that the visibility of the flag is not obscured in |
| 39 | any direction. Any person who violates this subsection commits a |
| 40 | noncriminal infraction punishable as provided in s. 327.73(1). |
| 41 | (4) This section does not apply to a person participating |
| 42 | in an event for which a permit is required, or of which notice |
| 43 | must be given, under s. 327.48. |
| 44 | (5)(a) The commission shall establish a voluntary testing |
| 45 | program to conduct sound level tests on airboats. |
| 46 | (b) An airboat that tests at a sound level of 107 dB A or |
| 47 | less while traveling on plane from a distance of 100 feet shall |
| 48 | be issued a certificate and numbered decal by the commission |
| 49 | which authorizes the airboat to be operated on all navigable |
| 50 | waterways of this state, including waterways on which airboats |
| 51 | are prohibited by a local ordinance or other provision of law. |
| 52 | (c) A person must pay a fee, not to exceed the |
| 53 | administration costs of the commission, established by the |
| 54 | commission after consultation with experts in the industry, to a |
| 55 | testing facility that has been certified by the commission to |
| 56 | use sound test equipment and testing methods pursuant to this |
| 57 | paragraph. Tests must meet the following requirements: |
| 58 | 1. Each test shall be conducted while the airboat is |
| 59 | traveling on plane in water 1 foot deep or less from a distance |
| 60 | of 100 feet perpendicular to the fixed-in-place testing |
| 61 | equipment, as measured from the closest edge of the airboat; and |
| 62 | 2. Test equipment shall be calibrated to allow for ambient |
| 63 | noise, weather, and other factors that may interfere with an |
| 64 | accurate and reliable reading. |
| 65 | Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 327.60, Florida |
| 66 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 67 | 327.60 Local regulations; limitations.- |
| 68 | (2) Nothing in this chapter or chapter 328 shall be |
| 69 | construed to prevent the adoption of any ordinance or local |
| 70 | regulation relating to operation of vessels, except that a |
| 71 | county or municipality may shall not enact, continue in effect, |
| 72 | or enforce any ordinance or local regulation: |
| 73 | (a) Establishing a vessel or associated equipment |
| 74 | performance or other safety standard, imposing a requirement for |
| 75 | associated equipment, or regulating the carrying or use of |
| 76 | marine safety articles; |
| 77 | (b) Relating to the design, manufacture, installation, or |
| 78 | use of any marine sanitation device on any vessel; |
| 79 | (c) Regulating any vessel upon the Florida Intracoastal |
| 80 | Waterway; |
| 81 | (d) Discriminating against personal watercraft; |
| 82 | (e) Discriminating against airboats that do not bear a |
| 83 | decal issued pursuant to s. 327.391(5), for ordinances adopted |
| 84 | after July 1, 2006, unless adopted by a two-thirds vote of the |
| 85 | governing body enacting such ordinance; |
| 86 | (f) Regulating the anchoring of vessels other than live- |
| 87 | aboard vessels outside the marked boundaries of mooring fields |
| 88 | permitted as provided in s. 327.40; |
| 89 | (g) Regulating engine or exhaust sound noise, except as |
| 90 | provided in s. 327.65; or |
| 91 | (h) That conflicts with any provisions of this chapter or |
| 92 | any amendments thereto or rules adopted thereunder. |
| 93 | Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 327.65, Florida |
| 94 | Statutes, is amended to read: |
| 95 | 327.65 Muffling devices.- |
| 96 | (2)(a) Any county wishing to impose additional noise |
| 97 | pollution and exhaust regulations on vessels may, pursuant to s. |
| 98 | 327.60(2), adopt by county ordinance the following regulations: |
| 99 | 1. Except as provided in s. 327.391(5), a no person may |
| 100 | not shall operate or give permission for the operation of any |
| 101 | vessel on the waters of any county or on a specified portion of |
| 102 | the waters of any county, including the Florida Intracoastal |
| 103 | Waterway, which has adopted the provisions of this section in |
| 104 | such a manner as to exceed the following sound levels at a |
| 105 | distance of 50 feet from the vessel: for all vessels, a maximum |
| 106 | sound level of 90 dB A. |
| 107 | 2. Except as provided in s. 327.391(5), any person who |
| 108 | refuses to submit to a sound level test when requested to do so |
| 109 | by a law enforcement officer commits is guilty of a misdemeanor |
| 110 | of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. |
| 111 | 775.083. |
| 112 | (b) The following words and phrases, when used in this |
| 113 | section, shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them |
| 114 | in this subsection. |
| 115 | 1. "dB A" means the composite abbreviation for the A- |
| 116 | weighted sound level and the unit of sound level, the decibel. |
| 117 | 2. "Sound level" means the A-weighted sound pressure level |
| 118 | measured with fast response using an instrument complying with |
| 119 | the specification for sound level meters of the American |
| 120 | National Standards Institute, Inc., or its successor bodies, |
| 121 | except that only a weighting and fast dynamic response need be |
| 122 | provided. |
| 123 | Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012. |