Chapter 10 -- Noise Chapter 10--Noise
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Chapter 10 -- Noise Chapter 10--Noise 10.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................10-1 10.1.1 Scope of the Noise Element...........................................................................................10-1 10.1.2 Existing Noise Environment..........................................................................................10-1 10.1.3 Noise Sources & Noise Abatement Techniques ............................................................10-5 10.2 Major Sources of Noise in the City of Merced ...........................................................................10-6 10.2.1 Vehicular Noise.............................................................................................................10-6 10.2.2 Rail Traffic Noise ........................................................................................................10-13 10.2.3 Aircraft Noise..............................................................................................................10-19 10.2.4 Other Sources of Noise ................................................................................................10-23 10.3 Noise Goals, Policies and Actions ............................................................................................10-31 10.4 Technical Data..........................................................................................................................10-38 10.4.1 Basic Characteristics of Noise .....................................................................................10-38 10.4.2 Psychological and Physiological Effects of Noise.......................................................10-41 10.4.3 Social and Economic Effects of Noise.........................................................................10-42 10.4.4 Noise Pollution Standards............................................................................................10-44 10-0 Chapter 10 Noise 10.1 INTRODUCTION exposure of community residents to excessive noise. The Noise Element also The main purpose of the Noise Element is to includes policies and implementation identify noisy areas and to provide measures measures that address existing and any for protecting residents from the harmful foreseeable noise problems. effects of excessive noise. The Noise Element is based on an analysis of current 10.1.2 Existing Noise Environment and projected noise levels for streets and Noise is often defined as unwanted sound, highways, railroads, and airports. Existing and its perception can be characterized as a noise-sensitive land uses such as hospitals, subjective reaction to a physical rest homes, schools, and long-term medical phenomenon. Researchers have grappled care facilities are identified and a set of City for many years with the problem of policies are established to deal with translating objective measurements of sound excessive noise. into directly correlated measures of public reaction to noise. The descriptors of 10.1.1 Scope of the Noise Element community noise in current use are the The Noise Element, one of the seven State- results of these efforts, and represent required elements of the General Plan, simplified, practical measurement tools to provides a systematic approach to: (1) the gauge community response. Table 10.1 measurement and modeling of noise; (2) the provides examples of maximum or establishment of noise standards; (3) the continuous noise levels associated with control of major noise sources; (4) common noise sources. community planning for the regulation of noise; and, (5) the achievement of land use A common statistical tool to measure the compatibility through the adoption of ambient noise level is the average sound specific policies with respect to noise. level (Leq), which is the sound level corresponding to a steady-state A-weighted Existing noise contours for all major sources sound level in decibels (dB) containing the of noise in the City of Merced have been same total energy as a time-varying signal identified and are presented in the Noise over a given time period (usually one hour). Element. These noise contours are used as a The Leq, or average sound level, is the guide for establishing land use patterns in foundation for determining composite noise the Land Use Element that minimize the descriptors such as Ldn and CNEL (see 10-1 Merced Vision 2030 General Plan Chapter 10--Noise below), and shows very good correlation acceptability of the noise environment, such with community response to noise. as residential developments. Two composite noise descriptors commonly The State Office of Planning and Research used are: Ldn and CNEL. The Ldn (Day- Noise Element Guidelines require that major Night Average Level) is based upon the noise sources be identified and quantified by average hourly Leq over a 24-hour day, with preparing generalized noise contours for a +10 decibel weighting applied to nighttime current and projected conditions. Noise (10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.) Leq values. The measurements and modeling are used to nighttime penalty is based upon the develop these contours. Significant noise assumption that people react to nighttime sources include traffic on major roadways noise exposures as though they were and highways, railroad operations, airports, subjectively twice as loud as daytime representative industrial activities and fixed exposures. The CNEL (Community Noise noise sources. Equivalent Level), like Ldn, is based upon Noise modeling techniques use source- the weighted average hourly Leq over a 24- specific data, including average levels of hour day, except that an additional +4.77 activity, hours of operation, seasonal decibel penalty is applied to evening (7:00 fluctuations, and average levels of noise p.m. to 10:00 p.m.) hourly Leq values. from source operations. Modeling methods have been developed for a number of environmental noise sources such as roadways, railroad line operations and industrial plants. Such methods produce reliable results so long as data inputs and assumptions are valid. The modeling methods used in this report closely follow recommendations made by the State Office of Noise Control, and were supplemented, where appropriate, by field- measured noise levels to account for local The CNEL was developed for the California conditions. The noise exposure contours are Airport Noise Regulations, and is normally based upon annual average conditions. applied to airport/aircraft noise assessment. Because local topography, vegetation or The Ldn descriptor is a simplification of the intervening structures may significantly CNEL concept, but the two will usually affect noise exposure at a particular location, agree, for a given situation, within 1 dB. the noise contours should not be considered Like the Leq, these descriptors are also site-specific. averages and tend to disguise short-term variations in the noise environment. A community noise survey was also Because they presume increased evening or conducted in 2007 to describe existing noise nighttime sensitivity, these descriptors are levels in noise-sensitive areas within the best applied as criteria for land uses where General Plan study area so that noise level nighttime noise exposures are critical to the performance standards may be developed to maintain an acceptable noise environment. 10-2 Merced Vision 2030 General Plan Chapter 10--Noise Table 10.1 Typical A-Weighted Maximum Sound Levels of Common Noise Sources Decibels Description 130 Threshold of pain 120 Jet aircraft take-off at 100 feet 110 Riveting machine at operators position 100 Shot-gun at 200 feet 90 Bulldozer at 50 feet 80 Diesel locomotive at 300 feet 70 Commercial jet aircraft interior during flight 60 Normal conversation speech at 5-10 feet 50 Open office background level 40 Background level within a residence 30 soft whisper at 2 feet 20 Interior of recording studio Existing Regulatory Framework lesser extent, railroad operations). The City of Merced General Plan Noise However, these descriptions do not provide Element is based upon recommendations by a good correlation to the potential for the California State Office of Noise Control annoyance from non-transportation or as contained in the Guidelines for the stationary noise sources, such as industrial Preparation and Content of Noise Elements and commercial operations, because many of the General Plan. times stationary noise sources operate sporadically or for short durations. The criteria in the Noise Element are Examples of these types of noise sources established for determining potential noise include loading docks, special event conflicts between various land uses, and concerts, pressure relief valves or alarms, noise sources. The standards for all noise which tend to be short duration noise events. sources are based upon the CNEL/Ldn When applying an Ldn or CNEL descriptor. Figure 10.1 shows the land use descriptors, the noise levels associated with compatibility chart. these types of short term operations will be averaged over a 24-hour period, As described earlier, the CNEL and Ldn are underscoring the potential for annoyance. 24-hour average noise level descriptors, which assume that individuals are more sensitive to noise occurring during the evening and nighttime hours. The CNEL and Ldn descriptors have been found to provide good correlation to the potential for annoyance from transportation-related noise sources (ie: roadways, airports and, to a 10-3 Merced Vision 2030