Hawaii Administrative Rules › Title 11 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH › Subtitle 1 - GENERAL DEPARTMENTAL PROVISIONS › Chapter 46 - COMMUNITY NOISE CONTROL › Section 11-46-2 - Definitions

Current through June, 2024
' As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise
				  requires:
"Activity" means an act or combination of acts which create
				  noise, and which is associated with any excessive noise source.
"Agricultural activities" means any or all activities
				  necessary or incidental for the purpose of agricultural functions, such as land
				  cultivation, crop production, and harvesting.
"Ambient or background noise" means the totality of sounds
				  in a given place and time, independent of the sound contribution of the
				  specific source being measured.
"Applicant" means a person or persons responsible for, the
				  excessive noise source.
"Authorized emergency vehicles" means police and fire
				  vehicles; private and public ambulances; and state and county vehicles used for
				  emergencies.
"Best available control technology" means any limitation
				  based on the maximum degree of noise reduction which would be emitted from any
				  excessive noise source which the director, on a case-by-case basis, considering
				  environmental and economical impacts and other costs, determines is achievable
				  for that source through application of production processes or available
				  methods, systems, and techniques. If the director determines that technological
				  or economic limitations would make the imposition of the provisions of this
				  chapter infeasible, a design, equipment, work practice, or operational
				  standard, or a combination thereof, may be prescribed instead to satisfy the
				  requirement for the application of the best available control
				  technology.
"Complaint" means any written charge filed with the
				  department that a person is violating any provision of this chapter or order
				  adopted pursuant to this chapter.
"Construction activities'' means any or all activities,
				  including but not limited to those activities necessary or incidental to the
				  erection, demolition, assembling, renovating, installing, or equipping of
				  buildings, public or private highways, roadways, premises, and parks.
"Construction equipment" means any device designed and
				  intended for use in construction, including but not limited to any air
				  compressor, pile driver, bulldozer, pneumatic hammer, steam shovel, derrick,
				  crane, tractor, grader, loader, power saw, pump, pneumatic drill, compactor,
				  on-site vehicle, and power hand tool.
"Construction site" means any or all areas, necessary or
				  incidental for the purpose of conducting construction activities.
"Council" means the legislative body of a county.
"County" means the city and county of Honolulu, county of
				  Hawaii, county of Kauai, or county of Maui, State of Hawaii.
"dBA" means the A-weighted sound level or unit of
				  measurement describing the total sound level of all noises as measured with a
				  sound level meter using the "A" weighting network.
"Decibel" means the unit for measuring the volume of sound,
				  equal to twenty times the logarithm to the base ten of the ratio of the
				  pressure of the sound measured to the reference pressure, which is twenty
				  micropascals (0.0002 dynes per square centimeter).
"Department" means the department of health, State of
				  Hawaii.
"Device" means any mechanism or instrument which is designed
				  to or which actually produces sound when operated or handled.
"Director" means the director of the department of health,
				  State of Hawaii, or the director's duly authorized agent.
"Dwelling" means a room or rooms connected together
				  constituting an independent housekeeping unit lor an individual or a family,
				  containing facilities for bathing or cooking, or both.
"Emergency" means any condition which would require
				  immediate attention or corrective action to avoid probable danger to property,
				  or to the health and safety of people.
"Equipment" means any or all devices used in an operation or
				  activity.
"Excessive noise" means the presence of sound as measured by
				  standard testing devices, and of a volume, or in quantities, and for durations,
				  as established by this chapter.
"Excessive noise source" means any stationary noise source;
				  and any equipment related to agricultural, construction, and industrial
				  activity which emits sound in excess of the maximum permissible sound levels
				  specified in section
				  11-46-4, as measured at any point
				  at or beyond the property line.
"HRS" means Hawaii Revised Statutes.
"Holiday" means a day observed by federal or by state law
				  for suspension of operations in whole or part.
"Impulsive noise" or "impact noise" means any sound with a
				  rapid rise and decay of sound pressure level, lasting less than one second,
				  caused by sudden contact between two or more surfaces, or caused by a sudden
				  release of pressure, including but not limited to any hammering, pile driving,
				  and explosion.
"Industrial activities" means any or all activities
				  necessary or incidental to manufacturing, refining, or processing of materials
				  and products.
"Maximum permissible sound levels" means the sound levels
				  assigned to zoning districts, as established by the director. The maximum
				  permissible sound levels are specified in section
				  11-46-4(a).
"Muffler" means a mechanical apparatus designed to allow the
				  flow of gas, air, and steam, and to reduce the noise created by intake from or
				  exhaust to the atmosphere by such flow.
"Noise" means any sound that may produce adverse
				  physiological or psychological effects or interfere with individual or group
				  activities, including but not limited to communication, work, rest, recreation,
				  or sleep.
"Noise pollution" means noise emitted from any excessive
				  noise source in excess of the maximum permissible sound levels.
"Off-hour roadwork" means any roadway construction between
				  the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m., which would require a variance from the
				  director. For the purpose of this definition, roadway construction shall be
				  limited to any activity, necessary or incidental to reconstruction or
				  resurfacing of public or private highways or roads.
"On-site vehicles" means fuel-, electric-; and air-powered
				  vehicles, stationary and mobile, which are operated within the boundaries of a
				  construction site or agricultural or industrial premises.
"Open space" means any zoning district or parcel essentially
				  free of structures that serves the purpose of visual relief and buffering from
				  building or structural mass.
"Operate" means perform or conduct any activity associated
				  with an excessive noise source.
"Owner" means the owner of the freehold of the premises or
				  lesser estate therein, or mortgagees thereof, a lessee or agent of any of the
				  aforementioned persons, a lessee of a device or the lessee's agent, a tenant,
				  operator, or any other person who has regular control of the premises, or of an
				  equipment, or of a device.
"Party" means each person or agency named as party or
				  properly entitled to be a party in any court or agency proceeding.
"Permit" means written authorization from the director to
				  operate any excessive noise source.
"Person" means any individual, partnership, firm,
				  association, public or private corporation, trust estate or any other legal
				  entity, or the State or any of its political subdivisidns.
"Premises" means any property, including its structure and
				  other surrounding property, which is used as a dwelling, or as a place of
				  business, or as a place to construct, manufacture, or conduct any
				  activity.
"Property line boundary" means a line drawn through the
				  points of contact of adjoining lands, apartments, condominiums, townhouses or
				  duplexes, owned, rented, or leased by different persons; a demarcation or a
				  line of separation of properties; and also, for any two or more buildings
				  sharing common grounds, the line drawn midway between any two said buildings.
				  For the purpose of this chapter, the property line includes all points on a
				  plane formed by projecting the property line in a manner deemed appropriate by
				  the director.
"Public space" means any zoning district or parcel used,
				  owned, or managed by the federal government, the State of Hawaii, or the
				  counties to fulfill a governmental function, activity, or service for public
				  benefit, including but not limited to libraries, satellite city halls, public
				  schools, and post offices.
"School activity" means a public or private school function
				  for students up through the twelfth grade which is approved by the school
				  principal or an authorized representative.
"Sound" means an oscillation in pressure, particle
				  displacement, particle velocity, or other physical parameter, in a medium with
				  internal forces that causes compression and rarefaction of that medium. The
				  description of sound may include any characteristic of such sound, including
				  duration, intensity, and frequency.
"Sound level" means the sound pressure level obtained by the
				  use of a sound level meter and frequency weighting network, such as A, B, or C,
				  as specified in American National Standards Institute specifications for sound
				  level meters.
"Sound level meter" means an instrument or combination of
				  instruments, which meets or exceeds the requirement for a type I or type II
				  sound level meter as specified in the American National Standard Institute,
				  ANSI SI.4-1983, specifications for sound level meters.
"Sound pressure level" means twenty times the logarithm to
				  the base ten of the ratio of the measured sound pressure to the reference sound
				  pressure of 0.0002 dynes per square centimeter or twenty micropascals.
"Stationary noise source" means any mechanical source of
				  noise fixed in or on a station, course, or mode within any premises, including
				  but not limited to mechanical air conditioning units, exhaust systems,
				  generators, compressors, pumps, or other similar equipment.
"Variance" means a special written authorization from the
				  director to cause or emit excessive noise in a manner or amount in excess of
				  applicable standards, or to do an act that deviates from the requirements of
				  this chapter or any rules adopted under chapter 342F, HRS.
"Zoning districts" means the land use districts established
				  by rules or ordinances adopted by council, legislature, county, or state
				  government agencies.