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A last-day compromise in Richmond rescued legislation that could bring automated vehicle-exhaust noise enforcement to Fairfax County and other parts of Northern Virginia.

The Virginia General Assembly approved a revised version of House Bill 2550 on Saturday, Feb. 22, allowing eligible localities to test monitors that identify vehicles exceeding 95 decibels.

The measure passed the House of Delegates 53-45 and the Senate 24-16 during the final day of the legislature’s 2025 regular session. It now heads to Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said excessive exhaust noise has become a chronic problem across local communities.

“A lot of folks are living with this chronic problem,” McKay said at the board’s Feb. 18 meeting.

State police costs threatened the bill

The proposal nearly stalled because its original language required the Virginia State Police to receive and evaluate data from the two-year pilot.

That work was estimated to cost the agency $425,000 over two years. The Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations recommended sending the legislation to the Virginia State Crime Commission for further review, a move that would have prevented its passage during the 2025 session.

The full Senate supported that recommendation, but the House rejected it. A seven-member conference committee was then formed to resolve the disagreement.

Lawmakers ultimately removed the state police reporting requirement. Participating localities would instead publish summaries of their results on their own websites.

Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw said the estimate that state police oversight would cost more than $200,000 annually “strains credulity.”

Before lawmakers reached the compromise, McKay criticized the push to study the costs before allowing the pilot to begin.

“The state is sitting on a gigantic surplus, and they can’t find enough money to help support a local government that is trying to tackle a very real problem in our neighborhoods — to me, it’s crazy,” McKay said.

Committee concerns reportedly centered less on the overall price than on the absence of an earlier budget amendment from the bill’s patron, Del. Rip Sullivan, a Democrat representing the 6th District.

Sullivan told senators during a Feb. 17 hearing that he expected oversight expenses to be minimal enough that separate budget funding would not be needed.

How the pilot would work

If signed into law, the bill would make localities in Planning District 8, which covers Northern Virginia, and Planning District 16, covering the Fredericksburg area, eligible for the program.

Each participating locality could deploy three automated exhaust-noise monitoring systems and move them among different locations over time.

Drivers would have to be alerted by conspicuous signs posted within 1,000 feet of an active device. Owners of vehicles recorded above 95 decibels would receive civil citations by mail.

The violations would not count against an owner’s driving record or be reported to insurance companies.