Noise regulation includes statutes or guidelines relating to sound transmission established by national, state or provincial and municipal levels of government. After the watershed passage of the United States Noise Control Act of 1972,U.S. Noise Pollution and Abatement Act of 1972, P.L. 92-574, 86 Stat. 1234, - other local and state governments passed further regulations.
A noise regulation restricts the amount of noise, the duration of noise and the source of noise. It usually places restrictions for certain times of the day.
Although the United Kingdom and Japan enacted national laws in 1960 and 1967 respectively, these laws were not at all comprehensive or fully enforceable to address generally rising ambient noise, enforceable numerical source limits on aircraft and motor vehicles or comprehensive directives to local government. Greece's Police Order 3 (1996) established common quiet hours from 15:00 to 17:30 and from 23:00 to 07:00 in the summer season and 15:30 to 17:30 and from 22:00 until 07:30.
Quiet hours are times during a day or night when there are placed tighter restrictions on unnecessary or bothersome noise. They vary between jurisdictions and areas, but are typically in place during night-time, so as not to interfere with residents sleep. Some noise measurement standards which takes into account different times of the day are the American day-night average sound level (Ldn) standard or the European day–evening–night noise level (Lden) standard. Some jurisdictions also have wider noise restrictions on weekends or on certain public holidays. Industrial or nightlife areas may be exempt or have fewer restrictions, while private institutions, hotels and universities may place additional restrictions on their guests.
History
United States initial legislation In the 1960s and earlier, few people recognized that citizens might be entitled to be protected from adverse sound level exposure. Most concerted actions consisted of citizens groups organized to oppose a specific highway or airport, and occasionally a nuisance lawsuit would arise. Things in the United States changed rapidly with passage of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1969 and the Noise Pollution and Abatement Act, more commonly called the Noise Control Act (NCA), in 1972. Passage of the NCA was remarkable considering the lack of historic organized citizen concern. However, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had testified before Congress that 30 million Americans are exposed to non-occupational noise high enough to cause hearing loss and 44 million Americans live in homes impacted by aircraft or highway noise.Noise Control Act, Public Law 92-574, 1972Amendment, Public Law 94-301,1976Amendment, Public law 95-609, 1978Amendment, Public Law 100-418, 1988
NEPA requires all federally funded major actions to be analyzed for all physical environmental impacts including noise pollution, and the NCA directed the EPA to promulgate regulations for a host of noise emissions. Many city ordinances prohibit sound above a threshold intensity from trespassing over property line at night, typically between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., and during the day restricts it to a higher sound level; however, enforcement is uneven. Many municipalities do not follow up on complaints. Even where a municipality has an enforcement office, it may only be willing to issue warnings, since taking offenders to court is expensive. A notable exception to this rule is the City of Portland, Oregon, which has instituted aggressive protection for its citizens with fines reaching as high as $5000 per infraction, with the ability to cite a responsible noise violator multiple times in a single day."City of Portland Code and Charter." Title 18, Chapter 18.18 "Title 18 Noise Control"
Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. The same Act charges the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) with recommending occupational safety and health standards. NIOSH communicates these recommended standards to regulatory agencies (including OSHA) and to others in the occupational safety and health community through the publication and dissemination of Criteria Documents such as the Criteria for A Recommended Standard - Occupational Noise Exposure.
Follow-up on initial U.S. laws
Initially these laws had a significant effect on thoughtful study of transportation programs and also federally funded housing programs in the United States. They also gave states and cities an impetus to consider environmental noise in their planning and zoning decisions, and led to a host of statutes below the federal level. Awareness of the need for noise control was rising. In fact, by 1973 a national poll of 60,000 U.S. residents found that sixty percent of people considered street noise to have a "disturbing, harmful or dangerous" impact.U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development survey. As reported by Kenneth Eldred at the Fifth International Congress on Noise as an International Problem, Sweden, 1988.
This trend continued strongly throughout the 1970s in the U.S., with about half of the states and hundreds of cities passing substantive noise control laws. The EPA coordinated all federal noise control activities through its Office of Noise Abatement and Control. The EPA phased out the office's funding in 1982 as part of a shift in federal noise control policy to transfer the primary responsibility of regulating noise to state and local governments. However, the Noise Control Act of 1972 and the Quiet Communities Act of 1978 were never rescinded by Congress and remain in effect today, although essentially unfunded.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulates aircraft noise by specifying the maximum noise level that individual civil aircraft can emit through requiring aircraft to meet certain noise certification standards. These standards designate changes in maximum noise level requirements by "stage" designation. The U.S. noise standards are defined in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 14 Part 36 – Noise Standards: Aircraft Type and Airworthiness Certification (14 CFR Part 36). The FAA also pursues a program of aircraft noise control in cooperation with the aviation community.
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) developed noise regulations to control highway noise as required by the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1970. The regulations requires promulgation of traffic noise-level criteria for various land use activities, and describe procedures for the abatement of highway traffic noise and construction noise.
Nevertheless, some states continued to act. California carried out an ambitious plan to require its cities to establish a "Noise Element of the General Plan," which provides guidance for land planning decisions to minimize noise impacts on the public. Many cities throughout the U.S. also have noise ordinances, which specifies the allowable sound level that can cross property lines. These ordinances can be enforced with local police powers.Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, Montpelier, VT. "Noise Regulations & Ordinances of U.S. Cities, Counties and Towns." Accessed 2010-08-19.
Japan Japan actually passed the first national noise control act, but its scope was much more limited than the U.S. law, addressing mainly workplace and construction noise.Government of Japan. Ministry of Environment. Law No. 98 of 1968. Latest amendment by Law No. 91 of 2000.
Europe and Asia Several European countries emulated the U.S. national noise control law: Netherlands (1979), France (1985), Spain (1993), and Denmark (1994). In some cases unlegislated innovations have led to quieter products exceeding legal mandates (for example, hybrid vehicles or direct drive (belt less) technology in washing machines).
Environmental noise is a special definition in the European Environmental Noise Directive 2002/49/EC article 10.1. The Noise Emission by Equipment Used Outdoors Directive 20014/EC further places upper limits on noise of 57 types of outdoor equipment that may cause environmental noise pollution.
Local noise ordinances in U.S. and Europe Local ordinances are principally aimed at construction noise, power equipment operated by individuals and unmuffled industrial noise penetrating residential areas. Thousands of U.S. cities have prepared noise ordinances that give noise control officers and police the power to investigate noise complaints and enforcement power to abate the offending noise source, through shutdowns and fines. In the 1970s and early 1980s there was a professional association for noise enforcement officers called NANCO, "National Association of Noise Control Officials."
Today only a handful of properly trained Noise Control Officers remain in the United States. A typical noise ordinance sets forth clear definitions of acoustic nomenclature and defines categories of noise generation; then numerical standards are established, so that enforcement personnel can take the necessary steps of warnings, fines or other municipal police power to rectify unacceptable noise generation. Ordinances have achieved certain successes but they can be thorny to implement. Many European cities are still treating noise as the U.S. did in the 1960s, as a nuisance and not as a numerical standard to be achieved. Effects of Noise on Health and Welfare Kryter, K.D., "The Effects of Noise on Man”, Academic Press, 1970Berglund, B, Lindvall, T, Schwela, D. "Guidelines for Community Noise", World Health Organization, 1999Public Health and Welfare Criteria for Noise, Office of Noise Abatement and Control, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 550/9-73-002, 1973Information on levels of Environmental Noise Requisite to Protect Public Health and Welfare with an Adequate Margin of Safety, US Environmental Agency, Office of Noise Abatement and Control, 1974
One obligation of a community is to protect its citizens from adverse environmental influences. Noise is one of these factors. Noise has documented effects on people; they can be divided into three types. The first type is a physical effect that directly and adversely affects a person's health. Hearing loss and vibration of bodily components are examples. The second type is a physiological effect that adversely affects a person's health; heightened blood pressure and general stress response are examples. The third type is psychological and adversely affects a person's welfare; examples are distraction, annoyance, and complaint. The only feasible legal basis for a community's right to control noise is based on these adverse health and welfare effects. It is clearly easier to uphold the constitutionality of a noise ordinance in a court of law if it can be shown that it is based on health and welfare concerns. The following is a short list of recognized effects of noise that can be addressed as a reason for a noise ordinance. Excess non-Occupational noise exposure, hearing loss on both public and private property, speech interference on both public and private property, audio interference on both public and private property, and sleep interference on mostly private property.Bonnet, M.H., Arand, D.L., Heart Rate Variability: Sleep Stage, Time of Night, and Arousal Influences" Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Wright State University, and Kettering Medical Center, Dayton, OH, 2007
Some legal considerations in the United States Several fundamental issues shape the legality, effectiveness and enforceability of any community noise regulation.
Preemption