STAND. COM. REP. NO.  1697

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2009

RE:   S.B. No. 605

      S.D. 1

      H.D. 3

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Finance, to which was referred S.B. No. 605, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NOISE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to better regulate noise pollution by:

     (1)  Requiring the Department of Health (DOH) to add the dBC decibel weighting system to the current dBA decibel weighting system;

     (2)  Allowing the DOH and county liquor commissions to enforce nighttime noise levels measured between 50 and 60 decibels, using the dBC decibel weighting system, in certain areas deemed appropriate;

     (3)  Establishing a maximum permissible sound level for bass sound at nighttime of 60 decibels, provided that where the complainant's site is within or in close proximity to an area zoned mixed-use or residential, the maximum permissible sound at nighttime is set at 50 decibels;

     (4)  Directing the county liquor commissions, with assistance from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations and DOH, to develop and submit to the Legislature recommendations for a permanent maximum sound level measured in decibels for licensed liquor establishments.

     A member of the Honolulu County Council, Chinatown Gateway Plaza Tenant Association, and a concerned individual supported this bill.  DOH and General Contractors Association of Hawaii opposed this measure.  The Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation submitted comments.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing its effective date to July 1, 2020, to encourage further discussion; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for style, clarity, and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 605, S.D. 1, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 605, S.D. 1, H.D. 3.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

____________________________

MARCUS R. OSHIRO, Chair