Florida Senate - 2012 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 958
Barcode 514606
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: FAV .
02/14/2012 .
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The Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation
(Oelrich) recommended the following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. Section 327.391, Florida Statutes, is amended to
6 read:
7 327.391 Airboats regulated.—
8 (1) The exhaust of every internal combustion engine used on
9 any airboat operated on the waters of this state shall be
10 provided with an automotive-style factory muffler, underwater
11 exhaust, or other manufactured device capable of adequately
12 muffling the sound of the exhaust of the engine as described in
13 s. 327.02(24). The use of cutouts or flex pipe as the sole
14 source of muffling is prohibited, except as provided in
15 subsection (4). Any person who violates this subsection commits
16 a noncriminal infraction punishable as provided in s. 327.73(1).
17 (2) An airboat operator cited for an infraction of
18 subsection (1) may not operate the airboat until a muffler as
19 defined in s. 327.02 is installed.
20 (3) An airboat may not operate on the waters of the state
21 unless it is equipped with a mast or flagpole bearing a flag at
22 a height of at least 10 feet above the lowest portion of the
23 vessel. The flag must be square or rectangular, at least 10
24 inches by 12 inches in size, international orange in color, and
25 displayed so that the visibility of the flag is not obscured in
26 any direction. Any person who violates this subsection commits a
27 noncriminal infraction punishable as provided in s. 327.73(1).
28 (4) This section does not apply to a person participating
29 in an event for which a permit is required, or of which notice
30 must be given, under s. 327.48.
31 (5)(a) Airboat testing facilities may implement a voluntary
32 testing program to conduct sound level tests on airboats. The
33 testing program shall meet all requirements of this subsection,
34 including having at least 50 percent of their revenues generated
35 by the airboat manufacturing or airboat servicing industries.
36 Any testing facility shall maintain a record of each airboat
37 tested, including the date, registration number, and decal
38 number issued, if applicable. Failure to perform the testing in
39 accordance with this subsection or maintain records of each test
40 and decals issued may result in a suspension of the right of the
41 facility to perform testing.
42 (b) An airboat that is tested through a testing program
43 established pursuant to this subsection and that tests at a
44 sound level of 92 dB A or less while traveling on plane from a
45 distance of 100 feet shall be issued a certificate and numbered
46 decal by the testing facility conducting the test. The decal
47 shall have on it the name of the testing facility that conducted
48 the test, the date of the test, and a sequential number unique
49 to the decal. The decal shall be posted on the left side of the
50 vessel within 6 inches of the Florida registration decal or on
51 the left-hand side of the operator’s seat. Such decal shall
52 authorize the airboat to be operated on all navigable waterways
53 of this state, including waterways on which airboats are
54 prohibited by a local ordinance or other provision of law, but
55 not in places designated by the Division of Recreation and Parks
56 of the Department of Environmental Protection as closed to
57 combustible engine watercraft, for a period of 12 months
58 following the date of issuance.
59 (c) The testing facility may charge a fee for conducting
60 the airboat sound level test to the party requesting such test.
61 Tests must meet the following requirements:
62 1. Each test shall be conducted while the airboat is
63 traveling on plane in water 1 foot deep or less, from a distance
64 of 100 feet perpendicular to the fixed-in-place testing
65 equipment, as measured from the closest edge of the airboat; and
66 2. The sound level meter used in the test shall be
67 calibrated to allow for ambient noise, weather, and other
68 factors that may interfere with an accurate and reliable reading
69 and must comply with the standards set forth in S1.4-1983
70 (R2006) of the American National Standards Institute,
71 Specifications for Sound Level Meters, as those standards
72 existed on February 1, 2012.
73 (d) A law enforcement agency may require retesting of any
74 decaled boat if there is probable cause to believe that the boat
75 violates the standards established for obtaining a decal and if
76 the boat is operating at a time or location authorized only by a
77 decal obtained pursuant to this subsection. Such retest shall
78 comply with the conditions outlined in this subsection in all
79 respects. A vessel operator who fails to submit to a retest upon
80 probable cause to believe that the vessel is being operated in
81 violation of this subsection commits a misdemeanor of the second
82 degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083. A
83 vessel that fails a retest forfeits the right to operate during
84 any “decal only” time or location. An operator who operates a
85 vessel in violation of this subsection is subject to a fine that
86 may not exceed $150.
87 Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 327.60, Florida
88 Statutes, is amended to read:
89 327.60 Local regulations; limitations.—
90 (2) Nothing in this chapter or chapter 328 shall be
91 construed to prevent the adoption of any ordinance or local
92 regulation relating to operation of vessels, except that a
93 county or municipality may shall not enact, continue in effect,
94 or enforce any ordinance or local regulation:
95 (a) Establishing a vessel or associated equipment
96 performance or other safety standard, imposing a requirement for
97 associated equipment, or regulating the carrying or use of
98 marine safety articles;
99 (b) Relating to the design, manufacture, installation, or
100 use of any marine sanitation device on any vessel;
101 (c) Regulating any vessel upon the Florida Intracoastal
102 Waterway;
103 (d) Discriminating against personal watercraft;
104 (e) Discriminating against airboats that possess a valid
105 decal obtained in compliance with s. 327.391(5), for ordinances
106 adopted after July 1, 2006, unless adopted by a two-thirds vote
107 of the governing body enacting such ordinance;
108 (f) Regulating the anchoring of vessels other than live
109 aboard vessels outside the marked boundaries of mooring fields
110 permitted as provided in s. 327.40;
111 (g) Regulating engine or exhaust sound noise, except as
112 provided in s. 327.65; or
113 (h) That conflicts with any provisions of this chapter or
114 any amendments thereto or rules adopted thereunder.
115 Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 327.65, Florida
116 Statutes, is amended to read:
117 327.65 Muffling devices.—
118 (2)(a) Any county wishing to impose additional noise
119 pollution and exhaust regulations on vessels may, pursuant to s.
120 327.60(2), adopt by county ordinance the following regulations:
121 1. Except as provided in s. 327.391(5), a no person may not
122 shall operate or give permission for the operation of any vessel
123 on the waters of any county or on a specified portion of the
124 waters of any county, including the Florida Intracoastal
125 Waterway, which has adopted the provisions of this section in
126 such a manner as to exceed the following sound levels at a
127 distance of 50 feet from the vessel: for all vessels, a maximum
128 sound level of 90 dB A.
129 2. Except as provided in s. 327.391(5), any person who
130 refuses to submit to a sound level test when requested to do so
131 by a law enforcement officer commits is guilty of a misdemeanor
132 of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s.
133 775.083.
134 (b) The following words and phrases, when used in this
135 section, shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them
136 in this subsection.
137 1. “dB A” means the composite abbreviation for the A
138 weighted sound level and the unit of sound level, the decibel.
139 2. “Sound level” means the A-weighted sound pressure level
140 measured with fast response using an instrument complying with
141 the specification for sound level meters of the American
142 National Standards Institute, Inc., or its successor bodies,
143 except that only a weighting and fast dynamic response need be
144 provided.
145 Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2012.
146
147 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
148 And the title is amended as follows:
149 Delete everything before the enacting clause
150 and insert:
151 A bill to be entitled
152 An act relating to airboats; amending s. 327.391,
153 F.S.; providing for airboat testing facilities to
154 establish a voluntary sound level testing program for
155 airboats; providing qualification requirements and
156 recordkeeping requirements for such facilities;
157 allowing airboats that test below a specified sound
158 level to be operated on all navigable waters of the
159 state, including waterways on which airboats are
160 prohibited by local ordinance or other provision of
161 law for a specified time; providing an exception;
162 requiring a fee; providing testing requirements;
163 authorizing law enforcement agencies to require
164 retesting in certain situations; providing penalties;
165 amending s. 327.60, F.S.; requiring a super majority
166 vote to enact certain ordinances regulating airboats;
167 amending s. 327.65, F.S., relating to muffling devices
168 on vessels; conforming provisions to changes made by
169 the act; providing an effective date.