Not a Quiet Victory: Enforcement of the 1972 Noise Control Act

In a landmark decision in Quiet Communities, Inc. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, United States District Court Judge Jia M. Cobb ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must comply with the 1972 Noise Control Act and the Quiet Communities Act of 1978, requiring renewed studies of industrial, commercial and residential noise pollution.  

After the two statutes were enacted in the 1970s, EPA established an Office of Noise Abatement and Control and tasked it with complying with Congress’s mandate that it study and regulate noise pollution.  But those efforts were terminated in 1981 when the Reagan administration dismantled the office and eliminated funding to address the tasks and goals Congress had set.  As a result, noise pollution has been largely ignored and unregulated by the EPA for nearly half a century. 

In 2023, University of Washington’s School of Law Professors, Sanne Knudsen and Jeff Feldman, who is also of counsel to Summit Law Group PLLC, brought suit against the EPA in federal court in Washington, D.C., based on the EPA’s failure over the past 40+ years to study and regulate noise pollution as required by Congress.  

“Noise pollution presents a significant health risk for people and wildlife. That’s why Congress passed legislation more than 40 years ago to address the issue. By not doing its job, and ignoring a federal statute for decades, the EPA improperly put the public’s health at risk. By ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, the court put an entire category of important public health harms back on the map,” Professor Sanne Knudsen said. 

Congress had already acknowledged that noise pollution poses significant health risks—jeopardizing the welfare of the American people and threatening wildlife—facts on which the 1972 Noise Control Act is based. The Noise Control Act was foundational to a national policy promoting safe environments for all Americans. Yet, during its years of dormancy, noise pollution evolved well beyond its 1972 understanding. Quiet Communities, Inc. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency seeks to reinstate this critical work, adhering to the Act’s endeavors to establish effective coordination among Federal research, commercial noise-emission standards, and public information on noise emissions and reductions.