Nevada Focus: Nevada regulators consider ways to quiet noisy Tahoe boats

ROUND HILL, Nev. - Loud griping about noisy boats on Lake Tahoe last summer has prompted two government agencies to consider stricter boat noise rules.

Jeff Rieger, who lives on Tahoe's north shore, started a petition in September seeking stricter decibel thresholds because of an increase in loud, high-powered racing boats at the mountain lake.

''(The boats) can actually make it so loud on my back porch that I can't even hear the person I'm talking to,'' Rieger said.

''There are all these people with all this money and they buy these big boats. And it's loud. It's insanely loud.''

Fred Messmann of the Nevada Division of Wildlife drafted new regulations in July, which are being considered by the Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners. The panel is expected to act on the proposed rules once public hearings are completed early next year.

The bistate Tahoe Regional Planning Agency and the Division of Wildlife have noise ordinances, but Messmann said they're hard to enforce because of difficulties in testing a vessel's decibel level.

Current regulations call for testing at a certain distance from the shoreline and a certain distance away from the offending boat.

The new approach being considered by Nevada simply measures the noise received onshore from a vessel, no matter what the distance from shore.

If a boat's engine exceeds recommended noise limits, its owner could be cited.

Messmann said problem boats typically have modified exhaust systems or don't have a muffling system at all, like ''cigarette'' or offshore racing boats.

He said the regulations being considered have worked in other states and could be enforced by any Nevada peace officer.

''There's not very many boats that violate the thresholds, but it only takes one,'' Messmann said. ''We don't want to mess up boaters' fun, but at the same time we don't want shoreline people or fishermen not to be able to hear themselves think.

''I don't anticipate it being a major enforcement problem for our agency,'' he said.

Pam Drum, the planning agency's public affairs coordinator, said the agency is aware of the problem, thanks to petitioners, and will study it carefully during the next boating season. She said the agency supports any regulation changes made by Nevada or California.

''We realize these larger boats do present a noise problem and it's our responsibility to look into it,'' Drum said. ''We're supporting the idea of what (the Nevada Division of Wildlife) is trying to do there. It will have more effective standards that will, to a large degree, take care of the Nevada side.''