N.Y. NAV Law § 44 — New York Code / Act NAV / Article 4 / Part 1 / Section 44
Noise levels on pleasure vessels
Status: in_force

§ 44. Noise levels on pleasure vessels. 1. The provisions of this\nsection shall apply to the navigable waters of the state including all\ntidewaters bordering on and lying within the boundaries of Nassau and\nSuffolk counties.\n  2. (a) No person shall operate or give permission for the operation of\nany pleasure vessel in or upon the waters of this state in such a manner\nas to exceed a noise level of 90dB(A) when subjected to a stationary\nsound level test as prescribed by SAE J2005.\n  (b) No person shall operate a pleasure vessel on the waters of this\nstate in such a manner as to exceed a noise level of 75dB(A) measured as\nspecified in SAE J1970. Provided, that such measurement shall not\npreclude a stationary sound level test as prescribed by SAE J2005.\n  3. Sale or manufacture. No person shall manufacture or offer for sale\nany pleasure vessel or engine for use in a pleasure vessel for use on\nthe waters of this state if such vessel or engine, at the time of\nmanufacture or sale, cannot be operated in such a manner so as to comply\nwith the sound level requirements provided in this section.\n  4. No person shall operate or give permission for the operation of any\npleasure vessel in or upon the waters of this state that is equipped\nwith an altered muffler or a muffler cutout, bypass or otherwise reduce\nor eliminate the effectiveness of any muffler or muffler system\ninstalled in accordance with this section.\n  5. No person shall remove, alter or otherwise modify in any way a\nmuffler or muffler system in a manner which will prevent it from being\noperated in accordance with this section.\n  6. Exceptions. The provisions of this section shall not apply to\npleasure vessels designed, manufactured and sold for the sole purpose of\ncompeting in racing events and for no other purpose. Any such exemption\nor exception shall be so documented in any and every sale agreement and\nshall be formally acknowledged by signature on the part of both the\nbuyer and the seller and copies of said agreement shall be maintained by\nboth parties. A copy shall be kept on board whenever the pleasure vessel\nis operated.  Any pleasure vessel sold under this exemption may only be\noperated on the waters of this state in accordance with this section.\nThe provisions of this section shall also not apply to:\n  (a) Pleasure vessels which are competing in or participating for a\ndefinite race over a given course held under the auspices of any bona\nfide club or racing association between the hours of nine o'clock in the\nmorning and sunset, which has been approved pursuant to the provisions\nof section thirty-four of this chapter, and all provisions of such\nsection have been complied with or pursuant to authorization by the\ncommandant of the United States Coast Guard.\n  (b) An authorized agent of the federal, state or municipal government\nwhen operating a pleasure vessel necessary to carry out his or her\nofficial duty of enforcement, search and rescue, firefighting or\nresearch programs.\n  (c) A pleasure vessel being operated by a boat or marine engine\nmanufacturer for the purposes of testing and/or development.\n  (d) A pleasure vessel manufactured prior to nineteen hundred\nsixty-five.\n  7. Any officer authorized to enforce the provisions of this section\nwho has reason to believe that a pleasure vessel is not in compliance\nwith the noise levels established in this section may direct the\noperator of such pleasure vessel to submit the pleasure vessel to an\non-site test to measure noise level, with the officer on board if such\nofficer chooses, and the operator shall comply with such request. If\nsuch pleasure vessel exceeds the decibel levels established in this\nsection, the officer may direct the operator to take immediate and\nreasonable measures to correct the violation, including returning the\npleasure vessel to a mooring and keeping the pleasure vessel at such\nmooring until the violation is corrected or ceases.\n  8. Any officer who conducts pleasure vessel sound level tests as\nprovided in this section shall be qualified in pleasure vessel noise\ntesting by the department of parks, recreation and historic\npreservation. Such qualifications shall include but may not be limited\nto the selection of the measurement site, and the calibration and use of\nnoise testing equipment.\n  9. Penalties. (a) Any person who fails to comply with the provisions\nof this section shall be guilty of a violation punishable by a fine not\nto exceed fifty dollars for the first offense and not exceeding two\nhundred fifty dollars for a second or subsequent offense. However, the\ncourt shall waive any fine for which a person who violates the\nprovisions of this section would be liable if such person supplies the\ncourt with proof within thirty days of the issuance of the summons that\nhe purchased his pleasure vessel prior to the effective date of this\nsection, that the pleasure vessel's muffler was not altered or made\ninoperable so as to result in a violation of the provisions of this\nsection, and that the pleasure vessel has been repaired, altered or\nmodified so as to be in compliance with the provisions of this section.\nProvided, however, that such waiver of fine shall not apply to a second\nor subsequent conviction under this section.\n  (b) Any person who alters or makes inoperable an effective muffler\nsystem so that such system is no longer in compliance with this section\nshall be guilty of a violation punishable by a fine of not less than\nfifty dollars nor more than two hundred fifty dollars.\n  (c) All fines and forfeitures collected pursuant to the provisions of\nthis section by any court, judge, magistrate or other officer referred\nto in subdivision one of section thirty-nine of the judiciary law,\nestablishing a unified court budget, shall be paid to the state\ncommissioner of taxation and finance, within the first ten days of the\nmonth following collection to be deposited in a fund known as the\nboating noise level enforcement fund established pursuant to section\nninety-one-b of the state finance law.  The office of parks, recreation\nand historic preservation shall distribute the fines to local law\nenforcement officials according to the provisions of section\nseventy-nine-b of this chapter for the purpose of enforcing the\nprovisions of this section.\n  10. All fines and forfeitures collected by any other court, judge or\nmagistrate or other officer shall be paid to the state comptroller\nwithin the first ten days of the month following collection to be\ndeposited in a fund known as the boating noise level enforcement fund\nestablished pursuant to section ninety-one-b of the state finance law.\nThe office of parks, recreation and historic preservation shall\ndistribute the fines to local law enforcement officials according to the\nprovisions of section seventy-nine-b of this chapter for the purpose of\nenforcing the provisions of this section.\n