Melissa Filek tried everything to mitigate the loud traffic noises in Waikiki that for two years disrupted her sleep and kept her from enjoying her lanai, which fronted Kapahulu Avenue.

But the daily cacophony, which worsened on Fridays and Saturdays when the car and motorcycle racers came out, finally forced her to move to a nearby building, where she could seek refuge from the noise on a much higher floor.

“I couldn’t stand outside and talk on the phone. I had to close all the doors and windows and turn on an AC unit and download a white-noise app to sleep,” Filek said. “The racers, anywhere from a dozen to 24 cars or cars, are on a loop every Friday and Saturday night racing down the Ala Wai or Kuhio, and then they come back down Kalakaua and they go around and around half a dozen times. Their music is loud. Their mufflers, which scare my dog, are loud. Then afterwards they party loudly in the zoo parking lot.”

Filek is not alone. It’s always been hard to balance Waikiki’s status as the state’s economic engine against the needs of residents who live in the heavily populated neighborhood. But the lengthy pandemic-­inspired downturn hinted at the possibilities. As Waikiki returns to normalcy, noise complaints are getting louder again, rising almost to the level of frustration over crime and homelessness. Residents in other densely populated districts on Oahu and across the state also are increasingly pushing back against excessive noise.

State lawmakers are considering several bills that seek to curb noise pollution by installing noise detection cameras that would pick up excessive traffic sounds such as souped-up mufflers on cars, motorcycles and mopeds. The noise cameras would be similar to the state Department of Transportation’s pilot program for red-light cameras, which captures images when a vehicle runs a red light and sends a ticket to its registered owner. The red-light camera program, which went live in November, already had issued 1,235 citations by Feb. 26.

Sen. Sharon Moriwaki (D, Kakaako-McCully-Waikiki) introduced Senate Bill 588, which would appropriate funds for the Department of Transportation to develop a pilot program to use noise detection traffic cameras to address excessive traffic noise in urban areas in counties with a population of more than 500,000.

The latest version of SB 588 is coming up for a Senate vote Tuesday ahead of when House and Senate bills progress into the opposite chamber. A companion bill, House Bill 471, introduced by Rep. Adrian Tam (D, Waikiki-­Ala Moana- Kakaako), who lives in a noisy section of Kuhio Avenue in Waikiki, appears to have stalled.

Moriwaki also introduced another excessive-noise bill, Senate Bill 1418, which would provide decibel noise readers to the state Department of Health, which would distribute them to state and county law enforcement officers statewide and train those who wanted to use them in enforcing disorderly conduct noise-related complaints. The latest version of SB 1418 also is coming up for a Senate vote Tuesday ahead of when House and Senate bills progress into the opposite chamber.

Moriwaki and Tam, inspired largely by their constituents in Waikiki, are on a mission to get a state workaround after two city measures to address excessive noise reached an impasse. While the excessive-noise bills before the state Legis­lature are not limited to Waikiki, the measures have a strong base of support in the district.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi last fall vetoed Bill 43, which would have banned amplified sound in Waikiki under certain conditions. Honolulu Council Chair Tommy Waters introduced the bill in 2021 and worked for many months to get it passed. Most supporters were blindsided by the veto, which came after Honolulu Prosecutor Steve Alm and the Honolulu Police Department said the bill as written was unenforceable.

Another city noise bill that stalled in 2022 was Bill 23, which sought to ban trash pickup before 6 a.m. across Honolulu. The bill, introduced by Council member Calvin Say, was inspired by Waikiki resident Carlino Giampolo, who had grown frustrated by early morning trash pickups that disturb his sleep.

Moriwaki said SB 1418 would help police enforce noise violations.

“Police said they couldn’t enforce (Bill 43). This cuts to chase. The DOH has the standard. They know how to do it. They’ll have somebody on board to hold police officers’ hands while they learn how to use a decibel reader to then be able to enforce against any kind of loud noise,” she said. “We put it from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. — so actually, if the trash can collectors are out enough, it might cover them.”

Tam said state lawmakers already have passed laws prohibiting souped-up mufflers; however, noise cameras would make them easier to enforce.

“It’s hard to catch these people currently. We found that they could easily modify cars to pass the safety inspection and then modify it back to however they want it. An annual inspection isn’t a good enough deterrent throughout the year.”

He said noise cameras are being used in New York and in Knoxville, Tenn., and in Paris and parts of Britain. It’s thought that more of Europe will adopt them to crack down on noise pollution and possibly support environmental regulations.

The state’s proposed noise pollution bills are gaining traction, especially with supporters in noisy districts like Waikiki and Chinatown. The DOT also submitted testimony in support of the intent of the latest version of SB 588.

DOT said generally, heavier traffic volumes, higher speeds and greater numbers of trucks increase the loudness of highway traffic noise. However, current abatement policy does not have any requirements on an individual vehicle’s noise emission or detection.

“There is technology available to detect vehicle noise emission. Roadside sound meter and camera can provide evidence of vehicles emitting excessive noise,” DOT said in its testimony. “Once the preset noise threshold is triggered, the camera can capture video of the vehicle emitting the excessive noise. This will help the law enforcement to take actions.”

Waters submitted testimony saying that he supports SB 588 specifically as it relates “to improving the quality of life for residents who live in areas where ‘car races’ happen at various times of the day.”

Waikiki Neighborhood Board Chairman Robert Finley said that the board supported SB 588 and SB 1418 at its Feb. 14 board meeting.

“A standard concern at meetings of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board is noise from loud mufflers (or lack of mufflers) on vehicles ‘racing’ along Ala Wai Boulevard both day and night,” Finley said.

He added, “For years our residents have complained about amplified music or other sounds that create an unacceptable impact on their evenings.”

Still, the American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii and the Honolulu Police Department have expressed concerns about the proposed bills.

ACLU Hawaii Executive Director Scott Greenwood said noise cameras “have lots of problematic aspects to them in that they sweep in a whole lot of otherwise protected conduct, and they don’t allow a clear identification of the person who may have violated the statute at all.”

“One of the things that has become quite popular in the last couple of years are surveillance cameras that are shared with the police that are not operated by the police. They are ubiquitous,” Greenwood said. “That is just a level of surveillance that is unfounded, and is not necessary to ensure compliance with the law at all. It is ‘Big Brother.’”

Greenwood said another troublesome aspect of the noise camera bills is that the population threshold ensures that they are not “laws of general application.”

“This is a bill that will target one place because the city that is really referenced here (Honolulu) is not taking this action, so the state Legislature is simply stepping in to fill the void,” he said. “It’s overstepping. It’s not necessary.”

Greenwood said passage of the noise decibel meter bill could result in police micromanaging street activity.

“The idea of giving them noise meters and having them roam around and check out certain intersections for noise because of performers or other activity that would be otherwise constitutionally protected on the street — that’s just a level of activity that I don’t think HPD has the time and resources to have people doing that,” he said.

Honolulu Police Department spokesperson Michelle Yu said HPD is monitoring the noise camera bill, SB 588, and is opposed to SB 1418, the decibel meter bill.

HPD Maj. Randall Platt, who heads the Waikiki police district, said in testimony that he recognized that excessive noise was a significant problem for Waikiki residents, businesses and visitors, but thinks that police officers should not be asked to use decibel-level readers to obtain and enforce sound violations.

“Much of the testimony in support of this and Honolulu City Council Bill 43 (2021), FD1, Relating to Amplified Sound in Waikiki, centered on excessive noise from street performers,” Platt said. “The Legislature may want to consider a partial ban on street performers on amplified sound after certain hours (for example, 10:00 p.m.) in designated areas of Waikiki, rather than taking an all-encompassing statewide approach.”

However, Platt testified in support of the latest version of another noise control measure, Senate Bill 224, which is coming up for a Senate vote Tuesday. The measure was introduced by Senate President Ron Kouchi (D, Kauai-Niihau) at the request of another party.

“This bill allows for noise control infractions to be processed under the traffic and emergency period infractions adjudication process,” he said. “It also grants the district court concurrent jurisdiction over traffic control infractions committed by minors.”

Platt said HPD supports adding “noise control infractions” to Chapter 291-D of the Hawaii Revised Statutes, as a means of expeditiously processing these infractions through the system.