Abstract
Noise pollution is a significant threat to the welfare of a country's population, especially in the urban areas. Major causes of noise include the operation of machinery, vehicles, equipment, and other appliances. The Noise Control Act of 1972 initiated a policy that would promote an environment that is noise-free to safeguard the Americans from the noise that has a potential of jeopardizing their welfare and health. The paper will analyze the reasons for the Noise Control Act of 1972 and how it has continued to develop over time.
The Noise Control Act of 1972 was passed by the Congress and went ahead to create the office of the Noise Abatement and Control (ONAC) which would exist within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The act was passed after an intense debate that involved the Congress, business communities, and the environmental interest groups. The Executive Departments of the Federal Government also raised concerns over the provisions of the act given that it touched on the area of aviation. The formation of the National Control Act of 1972 highlighted the critical role the Congress had in intervening to control noise as an emerging environmental problem.
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Reasons Why the Act Was Formulated
One of the primary aims of the Congress in passing the Noise Control Act of 1972 was to enhance an environment that would be free from noise that has negative implications on the health and welfare of the people. Hammer, Swinburn and Neitzel (2014) asserted that once ONAC began proper operations in the 1970s, it began issuing reports that identified processes that were major sources of noise in the country. It also provided critical information on various ways that such operations would control the noise they produced. One area that ONAC delved on was on the regulation of the noise produced by the aircraft. The law also prompted the EPA to conduct public education and provide further information on sound measurement and effects of noise as a public health concern. It also assisted communities such as schools in noise surveying, designing noise ordinances, and also in training officers of noise enforcement.
One area that the Act looked to revolutionize was the noise pollution that emanated from the aviation industry. US citizens, especially those living near the airports, were exposed to almost two decades of noise pollution from the airports. Such a noise was accused of causing significant psychological or in some instances physical injury. Hammer, Swinburn, & Neitzel, (2014) illustrated that before the enactment of the law, federal, state, and local governments had made many laws in this regard especially after the commercialization of the jet aircraft. The Congress also made attempts to create a noise abatement policy which would be monitored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). However, the Congress was not satisfied with the FAA’s role in averting noise pollution hence leading to the formation of the Noise Control Act of 1972. The act played a critical role in recognizing the role of the local governments in abatement of noise pollution and also required FAA and EPA to assess the effect of noise pollution on the health and welfare of the citizens.
Evolution of the Act
The act mainly evolved through amendments that were carried out in the Congress. The Quiet Communities Act of 1978 amended it in a bid to promote the development of proper local noise control programs. It also enabled a further provision of funds that would cater for noise research and also the roll-out of educational materials that would teach the public on the harmful effects of noise and the ways they can be controlled. However, strong opposition and backlash on ONAC which was a provision of the Noise Control Act of 1972 led to its loss of funding in 1981 incapacitating EPA to control noise. With the act not receiving enough funds, by 2002, various departments such as Transportation, Labor, and Federal Railroad Administration made their own noise control programs where every agency is governed by its own laws.
In conclusion, the Noise Control Act of 1972 was enacted to reduce noise pollution and improvement human health and welfare. It targeted, among many industries, the aviation sector that had threatened the psychological well-being of many residents living in the airports. With the rescinding over the act over time, there are calls for the legislators to fund the Act through ONAC to continue with its mandate in noise regulation.
Reference
Hammer, M. S., Swinburn, T. K., & Neitzel, R. L. (2014). Environmental noise pollution in the United States: developing an effective public health response. Environmental health perspectives , 122 (2), 115.
