Committee reviews S.66 to address road noise, muffler tampering and heavy-truck braking noise

Senator White presented S.66 on April 24 as legislation to address excessive road noise and to create enforceable standards. She said the measure grew out of constituent complaints in Springfield and other communities about sleep disruption and diminished enjoyment of property: "They were hit with barriers at every possible step," she said, and the bill is a "last option" for residents who exhausted local and DMV channels.

Section 1 focuses on vehicle-level tampering and muffler standards. The bill would prohibit operation of a highway motor vehicle equipped with a muffler lacking interior baffling, a gutted muffler, muffler cutout or straight-pipe exhaust. It also requires that highway motor vehicles manufactured after 1985 be labeled in compliance with specified federal regulations; Senator White said that standard is consistent with existing federal labeling and is not a newly invented state requirement. Senator White emphasized the bill is not aimed at older motorcycles or performance exhausts but at "very visual gutted muffler tampering" that causes excessive, disruptive noise.

Section 2 addresses heavy trucks and engine compression brakes (often referred to as "Jake brakes"). The bill would prohibit operation of motor trucks or tractor trucks equipped with engine compression brake devices unless the vehicle has a muffler to prevent excessive noise. The bill preserves an emergency exception: use of an engine compression brake to slow or stop in an emergency would not be a violation. The bill would allow inspectors, including at operator inspection sites, to fail vehicles for a muffler that does not prevent excessive noise; Senator White said the committee had removed a prohibition on inspection sites inspecting their own vehicles after hearing truckers preferred to inspect and maintain compliance themselves. The bill also preserves municipal authority to enact local ordinances prohibiting compression-brake use in downtowns.

Sections 3 and 4 direct DMV to work with the Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules (LCAR) on rulemaking and public outreach and request a noise-levels report that examines other states' laws, including Maine, which uses a process allowing a ticket to stand until a vehicle owner proves the vehicle does not violate a noise standard. Senator White said sections 3 and 4 would take effect in 2025; the vehicle and truck provisions (sections 1 and 2) would take effect in 2026 to allow implementation time.

Senator White cited testimony from a pediatrician presented in the Senate hearing about possible health impacts of repetitive road noise and recommended inviting that pediatrician and planning professional Laurie Eubanks Hill to the committee.

Ending: Senator White urged the committee to consider the DMV noise report and the public testimony gathered in the Senate and to provide reasons if the committee chose not to take the bill up this year.