HBA-AMW C.S.H.B. 126 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 126 By: West, George "Buddy" Criminal Jurisprudence 4/29/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Under current law, the decibel threshold for unreasonable noise is 85 decibels. Many individuals, especially in the unincorporated areas of a county, are not protected by municipal ordinances restricting excessive noise and must rely on state law for protection from excessive noise. C.S.H.B. 126 lowers the decibel threshold for unreasonable noise from 85 to 55 decibels and provides exceptions to the offense of disorderly conduct involving unreasonable noise. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 126 amends the Penal Code regarding exceptions to the offense of disorderly conduct involving unreasonable noise in a public place or in or near a private residence that the actor has no right to occupy. The bill adds exceptions for noise related to the ordinary and necessary operations or activities of airports and agricultural operations. C.S.H.B. 126 amends the sport shooting range exception from exempting all unreasonable noise in a sport shooting range in existence on or before August 26, 1991, to exempting only noise related to the ordinary and necessary operations or activities of a sport shooting range in existence on or before August 26, 1991. The bill adds exceptions for noise related to the ordinary and necessary operations or activities of a business regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, the General Land Office, or the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. C.S.H.B. 126 also adds exceptions for noise related to activities that occur and are allowed in a municipal area in which commercial or entertainment purposes are permitted by zoning ordinance and the level of noise made by the actor is permitted by the governing body of the municipality. C.S.H.B. 126 decreases from 85 to 55 the decibel level over which a noise is presumed to be unreasonable after notice from a magistrate or peace officer that the noise is a public nuisance. The bill increases from a Class C to a Class B misdemeanor the penalty for a person who makes unreasonable noise in a public place or in or near a private residence that the person has no right to occupy and the person has previously been convicted of the offense. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 126 modifies the original bill by increasing from a Class C to a Class B misdemeanor the penalty for a person who makes unreasonable noise in a public place or in or near a private residence that the person has no right to occupy and the person has previously been convicted of the offense.