ILLINOIS POLLUTION CONTROL
BOARD
April 15,
1982
IN THE MATTER OF:
)
)
CHAPTER
8:
NOISE
REGULATIONS
)
R79-1O
PROPOSED
NEW
PART
6 TO REGULATE
)
SNOWMOBILE
NOISE
AND
AMENDMENTS
OF
)
RULES
101,
103
AND 208
)
ADOPTED
RULE.
FINAL OPINION,
FINAL OPINION
OF THE BOARD
(by J.
Anderson):
This Opinion is written in support of the rules adopted by
the Board in its Order of July 23,
1981.
The rules were effective
upon their filing with the Secretary of State August 10,
1981,
hut
pursuant to Rule 605 compliance has not been required until on
and after November
8,
1981.
On June
25, 1979
the Environmental Protection Agency proposed
that the
Board amend
Chapter
8:
Noise Regulations (Chapter
8)
to
include certification standards for new snowmobiles and specific
in~-usesound emission standards for all machines manufactured
after April
1,
1979,
This proposal was published in the Board’s
~
#196, June
28,
1979.
On September
4,
1979
the Agency
filed
an
amendment to this proposal which
changed
the
language but not the substance of the original submittal.
Hearings
were held on the merits of this proposal on October
2,
1979 in
Rockford,
and on October
10,
1979 in Springfield.
On May 13,
1980 the Illinois Institute of Natural Resources
(since
retitled
the Department of Energy and Natural Resources)
filed
with the Board its assessment
of the economic
impact of the
proposed
regulatory
change entitled “Economic Impact of Proposed
Amendments to Snowmobile Noise Regulations”
(Doc.
No.
80/08)
(EcIS),
Economic impact hearings were held on September 23,
1980
in Chicago, and
on
September 29,
1980 in Springfield.
The Agency
filed
a final amendment to its proposal on December
18,
1980.
The Board
initiated
the Administrative Procedures Act first
notice
of the proposed rules as modified by
the Board by its Order
of January
28,
1981,
which notice was
published in the
Illinois
~
of January
22,
1981.
During the course
of the second
notice period
initiated by the
Board~sOrder of May 28,
1981, the
Joint Committee on Administrative Rules determined that it had no
objection to
the rules.
The
rules as adopted by the Board on
July 23,
1981 were published in the Illinois Register August
21,
1981.
46—121
2
The Snowmobile Registration and Safety Act (Snowmobile
Act)
Ill.
Rev.
Stat.
Ch,
95½, §603—1 et, seq~requires that
rio
snow-
mobile subject to that act operate within the state or be sold
unless “it
is equipped with sound supression devices that limit
total machine noise in accordance with noise pollution standards
established pursuant to the Environmental Protection Act (S604-1E).
The Snowmobile
Act establishes a registration and identification
number requirement which is administered by the Department of
Conservation (Department)
(~603—1to §603—11),
The Department is
empowered to adopt regulations to enforce the Act
(S604-2), and
is also empowered to “stop and inspect any snowmobile
at any time
for the purpose of determining
if the provisions of the Act are
being complied with”
(~602—2).
At the 1979 merit hearings, testimony was presented by
William Brey,
Chief of the Department’s Division of Law Enforcement
Noting that his Department
has
been legislatively “charged with
primary responsibility for active enforcement of the Snowmobile
Act”,
the Department has worked “closely with the EPA
in an attempt
to find some reasonable compromise in noise regulations”
(R.
120,
129),
The noise limitations contained in Rules 202—204 were viewed.
as inappropriate for several reasons,
First, the allowable
emissions pursuant to the rules are dependent on the noise source
proximity
to
the receiving
land; this of course constantly changes
when a mobile source is involved.
Second,
the rules’
octave hand
and one—third octave band sound level measurement requirements are
difficult
to perform when moving sources are involved.
Third, the
rules’
inter-connection with Rule 201 land classifications would
not allow for limitation of noise on unclassified lands such as
frozen rivers and undeveloped land where snowmobiles
are frequently
used.
The “reasonable compromise
in noise regulations” presented
by the Agency and the Department is a new Part
6,
containing sound
emission standards and limitations specifically for snowmobiles,
and an
addition to Rule
208 specifying two alternative measurement
procedures.
In brief this new part,
as modified by the Board for
clarity, provides:
a)
that exhaust systems
be maintained and not be modified
to create
additional noise
(Rule
601),
b)
that snowmobiles
be operated to generate no noise
sound
louder than 78 or
73 decibels
(dB) measured on the A—scale at 50
feet, depending on which of the two alternative measurement
procedures
is employed (Rule
602),
c)
that the application for registration of
a new snowmobile
sent to the Department be accompanied by the selling dealers’ cer-
tification that the above sound levels will be met, certification
by the Snowmobile Safety and Certification Committee constituting
a prima facie proof of compliance
(Rule
603),
46—122
3
d)
exemptions for snowmobiles lawfully used
in racing and
for certain other snowmobiles exempt from the numbering provisions
of the Snowmobile
Act
(Rule
604), and
e)
the compliance dates
as mandated in the Snowmobile Act
(Rule
605),
The Agency explained that the snowmobile industry iteif has
actively pursued development of quieter snowmobiles,
with the
result
that noise
levels
in
new
machines as manufactured has been
reduced
from 95 dB(A)
in 1967
to
78 dB(A)
in
1979
(Gr.
Ex.
1).
The Snowmobile Safety and Certification Committee
(SSCC),
a not-
for-profit
organization formed
in 1974,
has encouraged this trend.
Among
its other functions,
the SSCC provides for third-party
certification, pursuant to independent testing done by the U.S.
Testing Coo, to manufacturers whose machines comply with both SSCC
noise and safety standards
(R.
88-89 Gr.
Ex.
3).
In
1979,
the SSCC sound level for certification was 78 dB(A).
The Agency proposed that the Board adopt this level
as the stan-
dard because in the Agency’s view it is the most economically and
technically feasible sound
level,
despite the fact that a lesser
level would
of course
serve better to protect the public from
annoyance and speech or sleep interference
(R.
14—15).
Given that
all North American, European and Japanese snowmobile manufacturers
are SSCC
members,
adoption of the
78 dB(A)
sound level and
acceptance of the SSCC compliance label
as prima facie proof of
compliance
was
believed to lead to a fair and enforceable
regulation
(R.
27),
As of 1979,
11 states
as well
as Canada had
accepted
the SSCC compliance
label
in the manner proposed
(R.
92).
This rulemaking,
in the opinion of EcIS author Dr. Donald
Bumpass,
imposes minimal costs on all concerned.
The snowmobile
owner might incur, every other year,
a $10 cost for a replacement
muffler (EcIS 5),
No additional costs are being placed on
industry
(EcIS 9).
Enforcement costs to the Department cannot he
quantified, but are expected to be
low, based on the Department’s
own estimates and on the enforcement experience of
a similar
Wisconsin agency
(EcIS
6—7).
The only opposition to the rules as proposed by the Agency,
voiced at hearing by snowmobile association representatives, was
the proposal~sfailure to closely track the Snowmobile Act’s
numbering exemption provision.
The rules as adopted by the Board
have eliminated this possible source of confusion,
Based on the
record before the Board,
the Board believes the adopted rules will
provide relief
from annoying snowmobile noise in
an enforceable,
economically reasonable manner.
I,
Christan L.
Moffett, Clerk of
the Illinois Pollution
Control Boa,~d,hereby certi~’that the above Opinion was ~dopted
on the
J4
day of
1982 by a,vote of
~ç.
stan
L. Moffe~
,
/ lerk
Illinois Pollution
trol Board