| Abstract: | The national Environmental Protection Agency is expected to issue its recommendations on noise legislation some time during the latter part of 1973. This agency will assume primary responsibility for enforcing noise limits on new products, such as vehicles, construction equipment, electrical equipment, etc. Primary responsibility for community noise control will remain with local governments. Local EPA’s, now involved in air and water pollution, will be given the additional responsibility to enforce anti-noise legislation.This legislation will cover noise emissions fromvehicles, industries, construction equipment, residential air conditioners, and power equipment, and the noises that pervade multifamily dwellings. Responsibility for controlling aircraft noise will be shared with the FAA. The noise ratings used in this legislation must be capable of easy measurement and yet correlate well with subjective response. For most noises the decibel level read on the A-scale of a sound level meter (dBA) is adequate. For aircraft noise a more complex rating scale must be used which includes consideration of the duration of the noise and the presence of a pure tone (engine whine). For still other noises (industries, construction) some consideration must be given to the total daily exposure time of the noise, along with its dBA rating. New community noise ordinances will draw on the research and experience associated with the present Chicago, III., ordinance. Some modifications of this ordinance are expected, however, to improve enforcement procedures and to lower vehicle noise levels, which are considered the worst of all the community noise pollutants. |
