Noise Pollution Clearinghouse

EPA Library


The EPA Office of Noise Abatement and Control produced many useful documents during its brief existence in the 1970s and the very early 1980s. You can find some of the most useful documents below.


Noise Control Act. This is the law that opened the EPA Office of Noise Abatement and Control.

Quiet Communities Act. This law, passed in 1978, expanded EPA's mission to control noise pollution, as well as undertake research and public information inititives.

Federal Regulations from the EPA's Office of Noise Abatement and Control

Index of the Most Popular Documents in the EPA Library (136 Documents)

Index of the Entire EPA Library (989 Documents)


Most Commonly Used Documents

A Basis for Limiting Noise Exposure for Hearing Conservation. This link is a PDF file.

Bibliography of Noise Publications 1972-1982. The EPA Noise Publications listed in this Bibliography are a composite of all materials developed and made available to the public from 1972 when EPA's Office of Noise Abatement and Control was established through 1982 when the Noise Program was phased out and the responsibility for Noise Abatement and Control was delegated back to State and local governments.

Information on Levels of Environmental Noise Requisite to Protect Public Health and Welfare with an Adequate Margin of Safety (EPA, 1974). This document is probably the most comprehensive study of noise in America. This document is very large. A shorter form of this document can be found below in "Protective Noise Levels."

Information on Noise Levels, Noise Measurement Methods and "Buy Quiet" Experiences Associated with Motorcycles(EPA, 1980). An information supplement for governmental purchasing agents in developing "Buy Quiet" programs. To view the PDF version, click here.

Hear Here, an EPA coloring book for children that teaches the importance of protecting one's hearing.

Model Community Noise Ordinance from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Noise: A Health Problem (1978). This document is a somewhat dated but still very helpful EPA document about noise and health.

Noise Effects Handbook: A Desk Reference to Health and Welfare Effects of Noise (1981). This handbook, from the EPA's Office of Noise Abatement and Control, details the effects noise has on health in areas of communication, sleep, psychologically, physiologically and community among other things.

Population Distribution of the United States as a Function of Outdoor Noise Level. This link is a PDF file.

Prediction of NIPTS Due to Continuous Noise Exposure. This link is a PDF file.

Protective Noise Levels (1979). This document is the condensed version of the EPA's Levels Document. It is the basis of many current and existing noise regulations.

Public Health and Welfare Criteria for Noise.

Urban Noise Survey (1977), an EPA national survey of public reaction to noise exposure in 24 urban settings (settings with unusually loud highway or airport noise were excluded).

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