Filed Under: Environmental Issues | New York City | Enforcement | Air

Noise PollutionNoise Regulation, Enforcement and Advocacy Sorting out the existing regulations governing noise is confusing. There are no federal or state laws that provide blanket protection against noise, although some specific regulations govern manufacturing standards, air traffic, motor vehicle noise, rapid rail transit noise and noise in wilderness areas, etc.

• Federal - Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), (http://www.osha.gov/) a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, handles work place noise abuses. The US Environmental Protection Agency (www.epa.gov) sets noise certification standards for new aircraft engines. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) http://www.faa.gov/ regulates aircraft noise, among other things, and works toward developing quieter air technologies, provides funds for noise mitigation in communities around airports, and establishes noise thresholds for determining compatible land uses near airports (65 dBA is the threshold for residential land uses).

• State - The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) http://www.dec.state.ny.us/ has the authority to regulate noise pollution under the NYS Air Pollution Control Act and also in connection with certain waste disposal practices. However, it rarely, if ever, exercises these noise controls.

• New York City - Although aircraft noise is addressed in the City's code, it is viewed as a federal issue under the purview of the FAA. In the absence of adequate federal and state noise control enforcement, however, local control takes precedence. In 1972, New York adopted the first municipal Noise Control Code in the country. The City's code, which includes civil penalties for second and subsequent noise code violations, is primarily enforced by two agencies: the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the NYC Police Department. A 1997 Daily News investigation found the City's noise enforcement lax. According to the Mayor's Council on the Environment's Noise (CEN), the number of noise complaints in the City is increasing, but the DEP issues citations in only a small percentage of investigated cases. In 2004 legislation was put forward which would provide the first comprehensive overhaul of the New York City Noise Code in over 30 years. The legislation focused on five areas, would remove outdated code sections and replace them with ones that use the latest acoustic technology as well as provide for flexible and reasonable enforcement. In light of inadequate enforcement of noise regulation, many NYC non-profit and grassroots groups have taken steps to heighten awareness of noise pollution and lobby the City Council to put more muscle behind its enforcement of the City's Noise Control Code. Sane Aviation for Everyone, for example, is a Queens organization dedicated to remediating the environmental and health impacts of both airport noise and air pollution, opposes airport expansion and has put pressure on the FAA to lower permissible decibels levels and require the use of quieter aircraft. The Port Authority’s five-year capital plan, adopted in early 2001, includes $30 million to soundproof 21 New York (and 12 New Jersey) schools affected by aircraft noise. The FAA is providing 80% of the funds. Parties Involved Government: Federal: Environmental Protection Agency, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Department of Transportation-Federal Aviation Administration; State: NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Department of Environmental Protection, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; City: Mayor's Council on the Environment, Department of City Planning, Economic Development Corporation. Advocates: Bronx Campaign for Peace and Quiet, Council on the Environment, Natural Resources Defense Council, New York Public Interest Research Group, Sane Aviation for Everyone, The Noise Center of the League for the Hard of Hearing, Helicopter Noise Coalition of New York City, Friends Against a Noisy New York, Manhattan Helicopter Task Force, Noise Pollution Clearing House.