Taken directly from the SEMA web site.

Issue: Exhaust/ Equipment
Bill: H.B. 1149
Status: Active
Location: In Committee
Description: Permits the owner of a vehicle used occasionally in auto racing to obtain a permit for installing a cutout or bypass exhaust system so long as the modification is kept closed and inoperative when the vehicle is on a public way.
Author:
Intro Date: 14-Apr-03
Bill Type: Two year bill form 2003

Maine Exhaust Noise: On the heels of similar laws enacted in California and Washington State, a version of SEMA-model legislation to create an enforceable motor vehicle exhaust noise standard was signed into law in Maine. Under its previous law, Maine deemed illegal all modifications that increased noise levels above that emitted by the vehicle’s original muffler. Under the SEMA model, an exhaust system modification is legal if it results in a sound level of 95-decibels or less as measured by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) test standard J1169.





making it harder on us every year.