About the EPA document collection held by the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse.
Subject Index: A B C E G H I L M O P R S T U W
Title Index: A B C D E F G H I J L M N O P Q R S T U W
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Most useful EPA documents
See also Residential.
Community Noise Assessment Manual - Strategy Guidelines for Developing a Community Noise Control Program
August 1, 1979
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In response to Congressional mandates, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Noise Abatement and Control, has funded the development of a series of manuals, prepared by Wyle Laboratories, to support a Quiet Cities Program. The first of these manuals, entitled "Community Noise Assessment Manual - Social Survey Workbook," provided detailed instructions for conducting an attitudinal survey on noise in a community. The second manual, entitled "Community Noise Assessment Manual - Acoustical Survey," provided detailed practical procedures for conducting a noise measurement survey in a community. This manual, the third in this series, is designed to assist local governments in making logical and cost-effective decisions on the allocation of funds to reduce the adverse effects of noise in their communities. To make maximum use of the material in this document, a community will have utilized the preceding manuals, or their equivalents, to obtain detailed data on the noise environment, and attitudes toward this environment, in their community. However, this manual also stands alone in that it contains many useful guidelines and procedures which a community can utilize to decide on the most efficient allocation of effort and funds directed toward preserving the natural resource - quiet - in their community.
Environmental Report - National League of Cities - The President's Noise Initiative
October 1, 1979
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Impact of Noise on People
May 1, 1977
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Aviation noise significantly impacts approximately six million people in urban areas. In an effort to explain the impact of noise on these citizens, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) presents this brochure. Included are aircraft noise indices, information on human response to noise, and criteria for land use controls. Additionally, hearing damage and occupational health standards for noise are described. FAA presents this information in an effort to enhance public understanding of the impact of noise on people and to answer many questions that typically arise.
A Method for Assessing Automobile Noise
June 1, 1980
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This study presents a methods that can be used to examine and quantify each factor contributing to motor vehicle noise produced by automobile accelerating on city/suburban streets. It is based on data collected in six different jurisdictions subject to a range of noise control programs and was developed to assisst State/local jurisdictions to formulate or refine motor vehicle noise control programs.
Model Community Noise Control Ordinance
September 1, 1975
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This report contains a model ordinance for use by cities and counties in the development of noise control ordinances tailored to local conditions and goals. It is a comprehensive, performance-standard noise ordinance intended to overcome enforcement problems associated with the outmoded nuisance law approach to noise control. This report contains sections on the control of noise from both stationary and mobile sources and includes land use planning provisions. A preamble gives important explanatory information for certain ordinance sections.
National Ambient Noise Survey
January 1, 1982
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The objectives, methodology, and results of a national survey of outdoor noise environments in urban residential areas are discussed. The objectives were to determine overall noise levels, source contributions, and patterns of spatial and temporal variation in these areas, along with the effect of three locational factors on these parameters. The survey employed a randomized site selection procedure, a startified sampling strategy, and a multifaceted measurement protocol to meet these objectives. Results of the survey include a simple model which predicts Ldn in these areas, projections of nationwide noise impact, average source contributions and temporal noise level histories and average variations in noise level at different locations around residential units.
Nation's Cities - "A Special Report - How Cities Combat Noise"
May 1, 1978
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Noise: A Challenge to Cities
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Noise and Urban Pedestrian Areas
November 1, 1980
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This study consists of three reports which treat the subject of noise within the context of urban pedestrian areas. The main concern of the study is noise mitigation, although its contents cover a wide range of topics related to noise in the urban environment. The first report provides a description of existing noise mitigation techniques which have application to pedestrian improvement areas. The second report summarizes the actual application of noise mitigation techniques to pedestrian areas based on the results of a questionnaire sent to pedestrian projects throughout the country. The second report also includes the formulation of noise abatment criteria for the design of Broadway Plaza, a proposed pedestrian project in New York City. The third report analyzes actual noise levels and attitudes by pedestrians toward noise in several public plazas in New York CIty based on actual noise monitoring and attitudinal surveys in the plazas.
Noise Control Ordinance Development: A Guidebook for Local Officials
May 1, 1982
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The future of America's cities depends on how effectively they can compete as desirable places in which to live and work. Much of their attractiveness is determined by the quality of their environment. Noise is adversely affecting the quality of urban life and is a threat to the public health, safety, and welfare of our cities' residents. NLC is committed to assisting communities throughout the United States in resolving their various noise problems through the Community and Airport ECHO Program, by promoting the "Buy Quiet" program, and by preparing this publication to emphasize the important steps that a community should take in developing a noise control ordinance. This publication is a step-by-step guide that local officials can use as they undertake the ordinance development process.
Population Distribution of the United States as a Function of Outdoor Noise Level - Volume 2
June 1, 1974
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This appendix provides a description of each of the 100 measurement sites utilized during this project. The computer output listings for each of the sites are also presented. Data are presented by city, in alphabetical order. Figures B-1 through B-14 show maps of the fourteen cities in which noise measurements were obtained. On each map the specific measurement locations are indicated. Figures B-15 through B-114 provide data for each of the sites. The first page of each figure, labeled Figure B-xx(a) provides a physical description of the site. A photo and vicinity map are shown, and the address, population density, and measured Ldn value are given. Also listed are various parameters of the traffic flow in the general vicinity of the site. The street on which the site is located, and the street in the vicinity of the site, are both classified into one of four categories: freeway, arterial, collector, and local. Also indicated are the types of vehicles that traverse these streets. Noise sources other than traffic that affect the noise environment at the site are also listed. The second page of the figure, labeled Figure B-xx(b), lists various statistics and noise levels for each hour of the day. Tabulated are the maximum and minimum values occurring during the hour, the noise pollution level (NPL), the standard deviation (SIG) of the distribution of levels occurring during the hour, the L-equivalent level (LEQ), and the traffic noise index (TNI). Various percentile levels ranging from L1 to L99 are also listed. Similar noise measures are tabulated for the daytime (0700-2200 hrs.) and nighttime (2200-0700 hrs.) periods on the final page, labeled Figure B-xx(c). Plotted at the top of this page is the distribution of levels for the daytime and nighttime periods. Also, the weighted 24-hour L-equivalent value, with weighting factors of 0, 8, 10, and 12 decibels for the nighttime period, are listed. Note that the weighted L-equivalent value for a weighting factor of 10 decibels is the day/night sound level (Ldn).
Regulation of Noise in Urban Areas
August 1, 1971
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Noise legislation trends and observations; some fundamentals of sound and acoustic terminology; criterea for rating sounds; the character of urban noise.
State and Municipal Non-Occupational Noise Programs
December 31, 1971
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This document is a report on state and municipal government non-occupational noise abatement and control programs prepared from information obtained in response to a questionnaire disseminated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The questionnaire and a letter of inquiry were part of a study to establish the national need for legislation and research concerning noise abatement and control. They were forwarded by the EPA Administrator to the governors of each state (including Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands) and the mayors of the 153 cities having populations, as of 1970, of 100,000 or more. The questionnaire requested information concerning the level and scope of existing and planned noise abatement and control programs. It furthermore solicited opinions on what additional support programs could be developed by the Federal government. Described herein are the replies of 114 mayors and of 41 governors.
The Urban Noise Survey
August 1, 1977
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Most of the existing social survey data base on community annoyance has been in character and has been concerned primarily with airport and highway related noise. An essential element in assessing the impact of noise in urban areas away from airports and highways is the evaluation of the attitudes of people concerning the noise in the residential environment. A social survey was conducted to sample opinion over the entire range of noise exposure and population density characteristics of non-rural America.The objective of the Urban Noise Survey was to develop a first order relationship between noise exposure and human response as a function of situational and attitudinal variables associated with the life styles of people in various urban environments. This survey differed from prior surveys in the general area of noise pollution in several important aspects: (1) it was specifically designed to study noise exposure not directly related to airport and highway sources; (2) the social survey was made in conjunction with simultaneous physical measurements of noise exposure at sites with widely different noise environments; (3) it was national rather than local in character and was addressed to a broad rather than narrow range of noise exposures and respondents' life styles. Some of the major conclusions are that: (a) exposure to noise typical of many urban (non-aircraft and non-highway) environments produces widespread annoyance, speech interference, and sleep disturbance; (b) a strong relationship was demonstrated between exposure level and the proportion of a community highly annoyed by noise; (c) the prevalence of speech interference is an especially good predictor of annoyance; (d) the number of complaints about noise is a poor predictor of the prevalence of annoyance; (e) demographic factors alone are relatively poor predictors of noise annoyance; (f) freedom from noise exposure is a component of a neighborhood satisfaction, and quiet is highly valued; (g) noises associated with automotive sources are the most pervasive sources of annoying noise in urban areas; (h) annoyance associated with intrusive noise sources may be related to measurable noise exposure from such sources, even when their magnitudes are not as great as the level of overall exposure in a community; (i) there is some evidence that human response to noise exposure at Ldn values in excess of 70 dB is more acute than at lower levels.