Sept. 21, 2005
CONTACT: Henry Cabbage (850) 528-1755
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) today directed staff to draft a new policy that would require airboats to be equipped with mufflers. According to FWC’s Maj. Jim Brown, flex pipe alone no longer is acceptable to help reduce sound levels. The final hearing on the policy will be at the Commission’s Nov. 30 – Dec. 2 meeting in Key Largo.
Commissioners also want staff to hold an additional workshop with stakeholders to discuss implementing a muffler policy, written code of ethics and guidelines for courteous airboat operation. The FWC already has installed mufflers on all of its airboats and established guidelines for courteous airboat operation.
The decision to require mufflers on airboats came after a presentation today by Dr. Stewart Glegg, a researcher at Florida Atlantic University Engineering Department, whose group researched airboat sound and produced a report on its findings for the FWC. Other experts have reviewed the report, titled “Measurement and Characterization of Sound Generated by Airboats,� to ensure the study can stand up to public scrutiny and provide fully credible, objective and science-based solutions aimed at reducing airboat sound levels.
Currently, under Florida Statute 327.65, all vessels must be muffled effectively in a reasonable manner. The law also provides additional language that allows individual counties to restrict vessel sound to 90 decibels at 50 feet, but that is not a statewide requirement.
Both the propeller and the engine contribute to the sound airboats produce. At low revolutions per minute (rpm) the engine produces the most sound, but at higher rpms the loudest sound is from the propeller.
This report suggests that mufflers do reduce airboat sound levels at moderate operating speeds, but even muffled boats exceed 90 decibels at maximum throttle. However, airboat operators generally don’t run at maximum throttle for long periods.
Researchers examined sound levels produced from different styles of mufflers, including both exhaust and intake manifold mufflers, and differing propeller designs, operating speeds, and distances from an observer. They believe that each of these components, used together, could provide the needed “incremental improvements� to reduce airboat sound levels significantly.
Historically, most law enforcement agencies have accepted “flex pipe� (flexible tubing that diverts engine exhaust to behind the boat) as a reasonable device for muffling sound. It doesn’t muffle as effectively as a traditional muffler, but 20 years ago, nobody really complained since airboats generally ran in remote areas.
“However, times have changed, and the sound of airboats on lakes, rivers and wetlands has become a controversial subject in Florida in recent years,� Brown said. “Increased development in these areas, in part, has resulted in increased sound complaints from homeowners and outdoor enthusiasts.�
In 2003, the Florida Legislature considered a bill to restrict airboat sound levels statewide to 90 decibels at 50 feet. At the time, the Senate Natural Resources Committee amended the bill and proposed to give the FWC rulemaking authority to adopt a uniform municipal code to resolve the airboat sound issue.
However, instead of the bill moving forward, legislators asked the FWC to host public workshops to get citizen feedback about airboat sound and work out a non-regulatory solution to the problem. The agency hosted three such workshops in September 2003, and about 300 people attended and provided comments.
Although the meetings failed to produce any consensus on whether Florida needs new airboat sound laws, two proactive themes emerged: airboats should have effective mufflers, and air boaters should follow a code of ethics.
A subcommittee of the state’s Boating Advisory Council – a group appointed by the governor to advise the FWC and the Florida Department of Community Affairs on boating and waterway-related issues -- developed the Airboater Code of Ethics. The council is representative of the boating public, and the subcommittee included individuals from airboat manufacturers, personal watercraft industry, sportsmen groups, the boating public and an affected waterfront property resident.
The FWC is developing an outreach campaign to encourage airboaters to apply new and improved technology for quieting airboats. The campaign also will encourage changes in airboater attitudes and operating procedures to be sensitive to others who live around or share the waterways.
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