Idaho § 67-9102 - State outdoor sport shooting ranges - Operation and use - Noise standards - Measurement

§ 67-9102. State outdoor sport shooting ranges - Operation and use - Noise standards - Measurement

(1) The state agencies responsible for managing state outdoor sport shooting ranges shall establish criteria for the operation and use for each range. The provisions of chapter 26, title 55 , Idaho Code, shall not apply to state outdoor sport shooting ranges.

(2) The legislature finds that state outdoor sport shooting ranges should be subject to uniform noise standards as specified in this section.

(3) The noise emitted from a state outdoor sport shooting range shall not exceed an Leq(h) of sixty-four (64) dBA.

(4) Sound pressure measurements shall be made twenty (20) feet from the nearest existing occupied residence, school, hotel, motel, hospital or church and in a location directly between the range and the nearest existing occupied residence, school, hotel, motel, hospital or church. If there are natural or artificial obstructions that prevent an accurate noise measurement, the measurement may be taken within an additional twenty (20) feet radius from the initial measurement location. If access to such location is not available, then sound pressure measurements shall be made at the range property line in a location directly between the range and the nearest existing occupied residence, school, hotel, motel, hospital or church.

(5) Sound pressure measurements shall be made on the A-weighted fast response mode scale. Measurements shall be taken during the noisiest hour of peak use during the operation of the range. Measurements shall be taken using a type 1 sound meter meeting the requirements of ANSI S1.4-1983.

(6) For the purposes of this section:

(a) "A-weighted" means a frequency weighting network used to account for changes in sensitivity as a function of frequency;

(b) "dBA" means A-weighted decibels, taking into account human response to sound energy in different frequency bands;

(c) "Decibel" means the unit of measure for sound pressure denoting the ratio between two quantities that are proportional to power. The number of decibels is ten (10) times the base ten logarithm of this ratio; and

(d) "Leq(h)" means the equivalent energy level that is the steady state level that contains the same amount of sound energy as a time varying sound level for a sixty (60) minute time period.

[67-9102, added 2008, ch. 116, sec. 1, p. 322.]