Noise Regulation - National Controls in The U.S. Program

National Controls in The U.S. Program

After the passage of the NCA, EPA promulgated regulations setting maximum noise limits on a gamut of motor vehicles, industrial machinery and household appliances. The Agency conducted extensive testing and consulted with industry on the practicality of manufacturing quieter devices. EPA's efforts had an influence on the future of a quieter generation of machines. However, roadway noise and aircraft noise account for the lion’s share of noise emissions, and the EPA standards for those vehicles pre-empted states from further regulating. In the case of aircraft noise, FAA had veto power over EPA recommendations, so those standards never pushed the envelope.

In the case of motor vehicles, states could not exact a greater standard for enforcement against an individual vehicle, and interstate commerce priorities meant that guidelines for total noise exposure along federally funded highways remained guidelines rather than strict standards. Despite these drawbacks, states and the public at large had a superb weapon in the review of proposed major transportation systems in the form of NEPA and the NCA. In many cases courts were able to enforce the intent of those laws to secure the redesign of roadways and transit systems to provide more noise mitigation or to select an alternative of lesser impact than the original project; in many other cases, the highway agencies simply listened to public input and acoustical scientists before finalizing highway and transit designs.

In the case of airport expansions, courts consistently upheld the sovereignty of the FAA over the EPA, in allowing air traffic needs to be met over environmental concerns. Thus airports were required to study impacts of air traffic and facilities expansions and provide detailed noise contour maps, but in the final analysis the EPA exposure guidelines only advisory in nature. To respond to the shortcomings of the voluntary guidelines, FAA created a well funded program to insulate thousands of homes in the vicinity of major airports. The program was based upon computer modeling of alternative insulation strategies, calculated on a house-by- house basis. While this program did nothing to mitigate exterior sound levels, it benefited residential interiors significantly.