The Congress included among the requirements of the Noise Control Act of 1972 a directive that the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency "...develop and publish criteria with respect to noise..." and then "publish information on the levels of environmental noise the attainment and maintenance of which in defined areas under various conditions are requisite to protect the public health and welfare with an adequate margin of safety."

Noise Levels Research Synthesis: Review and Updates to Findings in Information on Levels of Environmental Noise Requisite to Protect Public Health and Welfare with an Adequate Margin of Safety

Effects of cessation of late-night flights on an airport community

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NRC Publications Archive Archives des publications du CNRC

: Guidelines are proposed for the uniform description and assessment of the various noise environments potentially requiring an Environmental Impact Statement for Noise. In addition to general, audible noise environments, the report covers separately high-energy impulse noise, special noises such as ultrasound and infrasound, and the environmental impact of structure-borne vibration. Whenever feasible and practical, a single-number noise impact characterization is recommended, based on the new concept of level-weighted population: i.e., the summation over the total population of the product of each residential person times a weighting factor that varies with yearly day-night average sound level outside the residence of that person. A sound-level weighting function for general impact and environmental degradation analysis is proposed, based on the average annoyance response observed in community response studies; this weighting function is supplemented by an additional weighting function at higher noise environments to quantify the potential of noise-induced hearing loss and general health effects. The evaluation of the environmental impact of vibration is derived from existing or proposed ISO standards. The report explains and justifies the procedures selected and gives examples of their application.

/pdf/guidelines-for-preparing-environmental-impact-statements-on-2dz6zvg33p.pdf

Guidelines for Preparing Environmental Impact Statements on Noise

Adverse effects of aircraft noise

: Part I describes the evolution of methods for relating aircraft noise exposure to community response in this country, starting with the original Composite Noise Rating (CNR) concept developed in 1952, and with applications specifically to aircraft noise in 1957 under Air Force sponsorship. The development of CNR procedures for civil and military aircraft in 1962 utilizing perceived noise level contours and the development of Noise Exposure Forecast (NEF) procedures in 1967 utilizing effective perceived noise level data are recounted and compared. Part II interprets the noise exposure due to aircraft operations, as expressed in Noise Exposure Forecast (NEF) values, in terms of estimated impact on land uses. Assessments of the land use compatibility with aircraft noise as a function of NEF values are given for a variety of land uses for the purpose of providing guides in land use planning, zoning and in land use development and building construction. (Author)

Noise exposure forecasts: evolution, evaluation, extensions, and land use interpretations.

: This report is one of a series describing the research program undertaken by the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory to develop procedures for predicting community noise exposure resulting from aircraft operations. This report outlines the acoustic measurement test conditions, the acoustic data reduction and interpretation procedures, and the type of aircraft performance information needed to obtain a noise data file for predicting the noise produced by aircraft operations. The procedures result in the descriptions of the noise of an aircraft in terms of the effective perceived noise level, the sound exposure level and several other noise measures. Level flight measurements and static engine noise tests are described, and are applicable to conventional fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.

William J. Galloway

Papers

Noise exposure forecasts: evolution, evaluation, extensions, and land use interpretations.

Community Noise Exposure Resulting from Aircraft Operations: Acquisition and Analysis of Aircraft Noise and Performance Data