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Addressing Motorcycle Noise

The EPA, directed by the Noise Control Act, addressed the motorcycle noise problem by creating a simple enforcement tool specifically for local police, called the “label match-up.” This simple tool, and the national plan, were to be carried out by:

1. The creation and implementation of regulations on manufacturers at the federal level^[1];
2. Providing valuable technical and financial assistance (through the Office of Noise Abatement and Control) to states and their localities to help abate noise^[2].

All motorcycle manufacturers have been building, testing, and labeling their motorcycles and their quiet original equipment exhaust systems as required by federal laws and regulations since 1983. In my seventeen-year career as a motorcycle mechanic, I can attest to literally seeing tens of thousands of them.

1. 40 C.F.R. pt. 205, pts. D & E (published in the Federal Register at 45 Fed. Reg. 86644).
2. 42 U.S.C. § 4913 of the NCA (“Quiet Communities, Research, and Public Information”).