About Us

NoiseOFF

NoiseOFF is a coalition of citizens, elected representatives, law enforcement professionals, educators, researchers, students and activists from the United States and abroad. Our membership is diverse representing different political views, cultural backgrounds, careers, religious beliefs, races, ethnic groups, sexual orientation, ages and economic classes. Richard Tur, based in Queens, New York, founded the group in 2004.

The website and message comprises a working toolkit that people can use to reduce noise pollution in their lives and communities.

Our funding and resources come from our individual donors. Our group is not orchestrated or influenced by traditional power structures, such as a corporation or a government agency.

Background

In 1972, the U.S. Congress enacted the Noise Control Act. It declared that the policy of the United States is to promote an environment for all Americans to be free from noise that jeopardizes their health or welfare. The Office of Noise Abatement and Control (ONAC) was created within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to oversee the impact of noise on the general public. In 1982, funding to ONAC was virtually eliminated, depriving citizens of federal protection against noise and its deleterious effects.

In 2004, mailing lists grew from people across the country affected by noise pollution and independently researched the issue. Even though everyone lived in different parts of the country, in big cities, suburbs and small towns, they were experiencing similar noise problems. NoiseOFF was founded as a means to present the issue of noise pollution to third parties and provide a voice for people who are adversely affected by noise pollution.

The most common sources of noise pollution come from boom cars, car alarms and illegal exhaust systems on motorcycles. People also experience noise pollution from barking dogs, gas-powered landscaping equipment including leafblowers, semi engine brakes, aftermarket exhaust systems on vehicles, building construction, outdoor shooting ranges, military bases, nightclubs, cafes, bars, airports, low-frequency emergency sirens, public transportation systems, nearby commercial and industrial businesses.

If Americans pressure the U.S. Congress to restore funding to ONAC, it will help empower local municipalities to reduce the din. Noise levels are much worse than they ever were in the seventies.