Government Resources
In this page, we offer you government and other information related to noise levels, laws, and enforcement.
Government Resources
Other Resources
Sound Level Meters
Government Resources
Links to provincial Acts and Regulations pertaining to noise. This page will eventually become a much larger list of links, to include Federal, Provincial and Municipal noise laws.
Loud Car Stereos
This link from the U.S. Dept. of Justice Center for Problem-Oriented Policing, this guide provides a wealth of information on combating the problem of "boom cars." Also available in pdf here, for printing and sending to your local police and elected officials. (The free Adobe Reader is required to view this document.) 
U.K. Noise Act (1996)
The full text of the law governing "complaints of noise from a dwelling at night." Penalties include confiscation of equipment such as stereos. (Incidentally, it has been reported that 10 percent of Britons feel their home life has been ruined by noise.)
European Commission's Green Paper on Future Noise Policy
This 1996 discussion paper is the first step in tougher anti-noise laws in the European Community. You can read a summary on-line, or download the full text in WordPerfect format. Click [EN] for the English version.
Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.)
Information on noise abatement.
Noise Control Act (1972)
Title 42, Chapter 65 of the U.S. Code.
Vancouver Urban Noise Task Force final report
Issued in April 1997, the report makes many recommendations for making western Canada's largest city a quieter place.
Other Resources
Active Noise Control FAQ
Information about an exciting technology that kills noise at the source by generating a mirror-image sound wave.
Adverse Health Impacts of Airport Expansion
A very useful paper posted on the RCAA site.
Barron Kennedy Lyzun & Associates
A private firm in North Vancouver. The site contains a lot of useful information.
Bibliography for Sonic Studies
Prepared by Barry Truax of Simon Fraser University.
Comprehensive FAQ page on technical aspects of noise measurement and reduction.
Hearing Health Information
Facts on noise and hearing loss, provided by the House Ear Institute.
Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the U.S.
The site includes a bibliography and an index to their journal, Noise/News International.
Laboratorio de Psicofisiologia
An excellent bibliography from Brazil of research on the "ill effects of noise on humans". Mostly Portuguese, some English.
Noise and Traffic
Netherlands-based site providing "information on effects of noise on people, standards and limits for road traffic, railway, aircraft and industrial noise. Discussion on combination of noises. Simple calculation software is available."
Comprehensive, current 640-page reference text.
Comprehensive reference on technical aspects of noise measurement and attenuation, directory of acoustic services, and suggestions for victims of noise including ways to fund a legal case. British, but much information that is universal.
Conducting psychoacoustic research on annoyance level of sounds. Check out “Acoustic Nightmare” picture.
Sound Level Meters
Note: Sound level meters like Radio Shack's are useful for approximating sound levels, but for measurements of a more precise nature such as those submitted in legal proceedings, a calibrated professional-grade meter meeting certain ANSI standards is usually required.
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Concert Organizers Held Liable for Hearing Damage
Visitors to a pop concert are entitled to payment for pain and suffering if they come away with hearing damage after a performance, according to the court of appeal in Koblenz, Germany.
Everybody may rely on the organizers setting the volume of the music to such levels that it causes no damage to health, the judges ruled.
The court awarded a woman money for pain and suffering in the amount of DM 9,000. She attended a pop concert in Trier where she sat near huge speakers posted at the right and left of the stage.
After the event, a medical doctor diagnosed her with "severe, noise-traumatic inner ear damage with tinnitus in both sides."
This was sufficient for the Koblenz judges to find the organizers guilty of a violation of their traffic securing obligation.
The fact that the plaintiff herself had chosen her place was considered irrelevant.
- Noiseletter,
Spring 2002
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