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Show The Salt Lake Tribune NATION Sunday, April 27, 1997 Since AgencyLost Federal Funding, Cities Are Defenseless From Boomsand .. . Few Places Have Noise-Control Plans night dance clubs, and auto ga- BY ERNEST SANDER NOISE POLLUTION encountered every day exist over a wide audible range. A look at the noises. piodens sound levels of common mmo Sound pressure siczwzeseee Sound pressure level =x ve Sa"> ‘ee Jet engine 199,000,000 te) (200 eas 140 48° 130 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS After a dance club and bar opened just a home-run slam away from their home in Hammond, La., Laura Penn's 4-year- old son would wakeupin the middie ofthe night, afraid the “boom- boom monster was going to get him. She caulked her windows, hung aatarce) thick blinds and moved the boy's 10,000,000 bed away from the outer wall. But even when you didn't hear the music, she says, you felt its pulse. 1,000,000 Average street trattic § 100,000 erat once. It’s like three noisy dishwash- 10,000 Library ers going at the same time,” she aaa Bedroom Four yearslater, she has resorted to trying to drown out the pounding bass with “white noise, running a dehumidifier, an airconditioner fan and an air purifi- says. 100 Threshold of hearing ro] phate prostate (No kound present), and und of pressure measurement. The Associated Pres In towns of all sizes and geographies, people are fed up with the rising cacophony of boomboxes and car stereos, blaring horns and jackhammers, motorcycles and industrial air conditioners, all- rages. The clamor is slicing into their sleep, interrupting their conver- Others have decided it's high time they teach their noise inspectors how to use noise meters — or that they buy some noise meters in the first place. Their codes spell out permissible decibel lim- sations and preventing them from thinking clearly, perhaps even harmingtheir health. While sources of noise are multiplying, organized efforts to qui- its but the communities have never had the noise-measuring instruments to enforce them. et them are advancingat a snail's Up until 15 years ago, these cit- pace. Because of shortages of time and money, and in somecases inertia, many municipalities are still without a plan of attack against noise pollution. ‘There are very few places in the United States that have work- able noise ordinances and even fewerthat can enforce them prop- erly,” says Eric Zwerling, who works in the Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University and consults on noise enforcement. Almost daily, Zwerling gets calls from cities and towns with problems. They have to design a noise code from scratch or update one that hasn't been revised for decades. ies and towns could turn to the federal Office of Noise Abatement and Control for guidance. But since that program lost its funding, the communities have floundered. Some have simply adopted the standards used by federal agencies that regulate workplace and highway noise. ‘That, in effect, means they permit day- and night-time noise levels on their streets that are similar to those found on a factory floor or along a major freeway. In the past 10 years, courts in New York, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina and Rhode island have struck down noise codes or parts of them. The challenges were brought by ice-cream preachers, stadium operators, and others who argued that the laws were ambiguous or the methods of enforcement arbitrary. While there are no accepted statistics on noise levels today as compared with 10 or 20 years ago, to most people the world seems more clamorous. Growing industrialization and mechanization are part of the reason. Society didn't always have leaf blowers, weed whackers and Ski-Doos, electric carving knives, electric scissors and paint sprayers with compressors. increased traffic — on the ground andin the sky — and surging residential density also play a role. People live closer to one another andto the sources of noise, industrial and recreationai. A man in Rocky Mount, N.C., lives by a golf course wherea 25inch fan whirs through the night to dry and cool the greens. Another man in CentralCity, Ky., lives 400 yards from a shooting range truck operators, musicians, street EL ae Saas aase Prescription Weight Los AN incredible COLLECTION of bid ei Oeet ACU A MeOM CLOR TG enUD the HOTTEST STYLES Da dest,Neaeeki Ree vitae Tagen me 5 and LEADING NAMES in SWIMSUITS PR Ologh maticcM mean ]497 8]9” ee nee PHYSICIANS WEIGHT MANAGEMENT Sold elsewhere for 134-140 & up. 293-3000 Call nowfor a FREE phoneconsultation! 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