An overview of U.S. noise policy

Abstract

The change from propeller aircraft to jet engines in the 1950s provided much of the impetus for development of national (federal) noise policies regarding noise from aircraft and other environmental noise sources in the U.S. Through the 1970s and early 1980s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other national organizations participated in the development of a series of federal noise regulations and guidelines. This paper provides an overview of the noise policies that have been developed since about 1970, and, in the case of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the EPA, provides a brief review of the successes and failures of their policies. We briefly describe the major noise policy documents produced in the U.S., including both emission regulations and immission guidelines. The successes and failures of the historical U.S. noise policy provide guidance in developing concepts for a new national unified noise policy.

Governing the noisy sphere: Geographies of noise regulation in the US

“…Beyond specific nuisance laws and quiet zones within cities, noise regulation was not conceived on a federal level until the 1960s. In explaining this, some scholars have highlighted the shift from propeller planes to jet engines that had occurred in the previous decade, filling skies with the constant roar of air travel (Finegold et al, 2002). Others have pointed to the growing recognition, on the part of the state and the public, of noise as an environmental pollutant (Nagle, 2009).…”

“…Besides personal familiarity, I decided to focus on the US context because of the major influence it has had on noise regulations globally. Although the UK and Japan both passed national noise-control acts prior to the US, in 1960 and1968, respectively, many argue that NCA heralded the start of an international movement toward comprehensive programs for the control of environmental noise (Finegold et al, 2002). A similar movement occurred within the US as well, with many states and municipalities drafting noise policies modeled on NCA (Coelho, 2007).…”

“…The first is that Seattle's soundscape in the 1970s, when SNO was passed, echoed some of the larger trends driving noise control at that time. As described below, the development of more comprehensive noise control ordinances since the 1960s, on both federal and municipal levels, was at least in part a response to public outcry over commercial jets (Finegold et al, 2002;Grad and Hack, 1972). With its longtime connections to the Boeing Company and aircraft production, as well as its proximity to the Seattle-Tacoma Airport, Seattle was a hotspot for public and governmental debates over noise (see, e.g.…”

A vision of the environmental and occupational noise pollution in Malaysia

“…[21] These regulations aimed primarily to protect the residents at the peak traffic hour L Aeq of 67 dB. In the European countries and cities, various directives regarding noise emissions from different sources, such as motor vehicles, railway systems, aircraft, household appliances, and outdoor machinery have been applied to draw strategic noise maps for the assessment of noise from major transport infrastructures and in communities with >100,000 inhabitants.…”

Supersonic Jet Noise Reduction by Chevrons and Fluidic Injection

“…First, the high amplitude pressure in the near field leads to undesirable stresses on nearby components of the aircraft as well as a harsh working environment for those inside the aircraft and in its vicinity, such as on a carrier deck 1 . At the same time, the noise radiated from a military aircraft to the far field is loud enough to impact communities near military bases 2 and to increase the detectability of the aircraft. Thus, there has been significant effort put forth to help understand jet noise sources and ultimately reduce the noise levels.…”