Proposed standard - Guidance for developing state noise regulations and local noise ordinances

Abstract

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) Accredited Standards Committee S12 (Noise) Working Group (WG) 41 has been developing a draft standards document for over 12 years. The current document is in Draft #9, now under development. This document represents the consensus of many stakeholders in the community noise arena, including industry, government, consulting and the public. The purpose of the document is to provide guidance to government officials, acoustical consultants, and other interested persons on how to develop a community noise ordinance or regulation which is appropriate for the existing local circumstances. The document addresses issues such as public and government priorities and values, and available resources, and also provides the technical basis to manage the local sound environment. The keys to the effectiveness of the document are that it provides a menu of options for the user, discusses the trade-offs involved for decisions that must be made by government officials, and emphasizes that enforcement of a community noise ordinance is crucial to its success. A description of the current draft is presented.