Bill would toughen standards on noise from off-road vehicles

OLYMPIA — The rancor that sometimes erupts between off-road-vehicle enthusiasts and neighbors seeking peace and quiet is moving to the state Capitol.

Lawmakers fed up with noisy dirt bikes and quads are backing legislation that sets tougher noise standards for off-road vehicles (ORV) and bans loud driving near homes.

Opponents of the bill say that it would kill their sport and that rude off-road riders are best handled under existing laws.

"Effectively, I see it shutting down every ORV or sports park in the state, practically all of them," said John Eaton, vice chair of Washington Off-Highway Vehicle Alliance, a lobbying group.

Opponents stepped up their fight after one co-sponsor of the bill, Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, sent an e-mail to a motor-sport fan blasting off-road-vehicle use and suggesting the legislation is an "anti-obesity measure."

"I signed on because I have been annoyed, endangered and angered one too many times by people riding motorized dirt-bikes and other off-road vehicles," Kline wrote. "Please circulate this to all motorized sports enthusiasts, so they can remember never to vote for me."

They did circulate it, and off-road-vehicle fans plan to rally on the steps of the Capitol building today.

Eaton says urbanization of rural areas is putting pressure on the traditional playgrounds of off-road riders. People are building homes near commercial ORV parks and then complaining until the parks close, leaving riders no place to race but their own backyards, he said.

Tighter noise restrictions would only put more areas off limits, he said.

That would suit Nancy Armstrong just fine.

"I had a de facto off-road-vehicle track set up across the street from my house," said Armstrong, who lives in Tumwater. "The noise inside my house was 80 decibels with the doors and windows shut."

That's about as loud as a typical vacuum cleaner.

Law now prohibits off-road-vehicle use that reaches 86 decibels 50 feet from the vehicle or 55 decibels along a property line. But Armstrong said enforcing those rules is an expensive and time-consuming process.

"You have to hire a sound engineer and then file a suit," she said. "Then you have to go to a law court, pay attorney's fees. It's costly."

Under Senate Bill 5544, it would be a traffic violation to make off-road-vehicle noise that is plainly audible, or exceeds 45 decibels, inside or within 10 feet of a residence. If found guilty, the noise-maker would have to pay the complaining neighbor's legal fees.

The first fine would be at least $100 and would double for each offense, up to $800.

The legislation also would require off-road vehicles produced during model year 2008 and later to operate at or under 96 decibels when the sound is measured 20 inches from the tailpipe. The limit now is 105 decibels.

Larry Walker, government-affairs specialist for the Washington Road Riders Association, a lobbying group, said existing laws are enough to quiet nuisance noise. He also said state legislation does not take into account differences between communities.

"What's bad behavior in Tumwater may not be bad behavior in the back side of Yakima," he said.

Eaton, of the Washington Off-Highway Vehicle Alliance, supports reducing the tailpipe sound level from 105 to 96 decibels on all vehicles but says a 45-decibel maximum in and around homes is unreasonable. A normal conversation is about 65 decibels, he said.

Eaton says decibel levels and measurement standards are so confusing that many senators do not understand what they are sponsoring.

But Kline, the Seattle state senator, sees it more simply. "It's a pain in the butt, that zzz zzz zzz loud, mosquito sound," he said last week. "It's noise. It's physical danger."

Elliott Wilson: 360-236-8169 or ewilson@seattletimes.com