Noise Pollution Policy Report

WestCOG is in the process of developing a report reviewing Noise Policy and offer recommendations for member communities to consider for future policy options. Phase 1 includes the development of a Noise Pollution Ordinance Inventory. Phase 2 includes the development of the report and best practices.

Background

Noise pollution—unwanted or harmful sound that disrupts human health or environmental quality—is one of the most common and least regulated environmental exposures in modern life. It is linked to a range of serious health effects, including sleep disturbance, cognitive impairment, hearing loss, endocrine disruption, diabetes, and heart disease. The World Health Organization has stated that “ environmental noise leads to a disease burden that is second in magnitude only to that from air pollution”; and according to the European Environment Agency, long-term exposure to environmental noise contributes to an estimated 12,000 preventable deaths each year in the EU alone.

Despite this well-established body of evidence, noise has historically been treated with less urgency than air or water pollution. As a 2013 report in Environmental Health Perspectives—a journal of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences—observed, “very few communities appear to consider the health risks of noise in their policymaking,” even though “the body of evidence linking noise to various health effects is… more extensive than for most other environmental hazards.”

In the 1970s, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) conducted extensive work on noise control, but in 1982 Congress defunded its Office of Noise Abatement and Control. Though framed as a move to return authority to the states, it also reflected the broader deregulatory agenda of the early Reagan administration.

Connecticut initially filled this void by assigning responsibility for noise regulation to the Department of Environmental Protection (now DEEP). But by the early 1990s, the state followed a similar path, ending dedicated funding for noise control and transferring responsibility to its 169 municipalities. While local governments are often closest to the sources and complaints of noise, many lack the expertise, regulatory clarity, or resources to implement effective programs.

After more than three decades of local control, we ask: How well is noise pollution being regulated at the municipal level in Connecticut? And is the state as a whole responding adequately to the public health and environmental risks posed by noise pollution?

Phase I. Noise pollution Ordinance Inventory

Municipal ordinances are the primary tools through which towns and cities respond to noise complaints and evaluate new development. To assess the strength of Connecticut’s current framework, the state’s nine Councils of Governments, in partnership with Sustainable CT, conducted a statewide survey of local noise ordinances. This work sheds light on the structure and scope of municipal noise regulation and will inform a forthcoming white paper examining whether Connecticut’s decentralized approach is capable of addressing one of the most persistent—and underregulated—hazards of modern life.

Contact WestCOG Deputy Director Mike Towle with any questions. mtowle@westCOG.org