ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of regulations regarding community and environmental noise. Specifically, typical formats and various technical approaches excerpted from actual regulations are discussed and compared. With respect to environmental noise, there are no major federal regulations that apply directly to industrial noise emissions. However, as a cursory review, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) prescribes noise standards for various types of aircraft and associated flight takeoff and landing patterns. With respect to meeting community noise regulations, several options are generally available to the acoustical engineer. Some form of community noise or environmental regulation applies to all land usage throughout the United States and most industrial nations of the world. The regulations vary from subjective codes to well-defined and easy-to-measure performance standards. It is the author's experience that where environmental issues such as air, water, or noise pollution are present, compliance with noise standards is the most difficult to assess.
