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When used in the New York city noise control code the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(1) "A" level means the sound level as measured with a sound level meter using the "A" weighting network. The unit of measurement is the dB(A). This frequency weighting network for the measurement of sound levels shall comply with standards established by the American National Standards Institute specifications for sound level meters S1.4-1971, as amended or S1.4-1983, as amended.
(2) Activity means any act or combination of acts which actually results in the production of sound.
(3) Air compressor means a device which draws in air or gas, compresses it, and delivers it at a higher pressure.
(4) Air horn means a device intended to produce a sound signal by means of compressed air or gas or exhaust gas.
(5) Airport means an area of land or water that is used or intended to be used for the landing and take off of aircraft, and includes its buildings and facilities, if any.
(6) Ambient sound means the sound level at a given location that exists as a result of the combined contribution in that location of all sound sources, excluding the contribution of a source or sources under investigation for violation of this code and excluding the contribution of extraneous sound sources. For purposes of the enforcement of this code, the ambient sound level of a given location may be determined based upon measurements taken at a comparable site (which includes but is not limited to comparable physical locations and time of day) in the nearby area.
(7) Apparatus means any mechanism which prevents, controls, detects, measures or records the production of sound.
(8) Audible status indicator means any sound reproduction device on a motor vehicle that emits or causes to be emitted any continuous or near continuous sound (exceeding 5 seconds if tonal in nature or any duration if verbal in nature) for the purpose of warning that an audible burglar alarm has been installed on such motor vehicle and is operational or for creating the appearance that such an alarm has been installed on such motor vehicle and is operational.
(9) Authorized emergency vehicle means an authorized emergency vehicle as defined by section 101 of the vehicle and traffic law.
(10) Board means the environmental control board of the city of New York.
(11) Building means a building as defined in section 28-101.5.
(12) Building aperture means any designed opening in a building to which a person may reasonably have access including but not limited to any door, gate, window, skylight or hatch.
(13) Burglar alarm means any sound signal device designed and intended to produce a sound signal upon unauthorized entrance by a person into a building or motor vehicle.
(14) "C" level means the sound level as measured with a sound level meter using the "C" weighting network. The unit of measurement is the dB(C). This frequency weighting network for the measurement of sound levels shall comply with standards established by the American National Standards Institute specifications for sound level meters S1.4-1971, as amended or S1.4-1983, as amended.
(15) Certificate means an operating or temporary operating certificate.
(16) Charter means the New York city charter including all of its amendments.
(17) Circulation device means any device which circulates a gas or fluid, including but not limited to any air conditioner, pump, cooling tower, fan or blower.
(18) Claxon means any manually, mechanically, or electrically powered device, other than an emergency signal device, including but not limited to a motor vehicle horn, which is intended to, and when operated actually does, emit a sound signal.
(19) This code means the New York city noise control code.
(20) Commissioner means commissioner of environmental protection or his or her authorized representative.
(21) Construction or construction work means any or all activity necessary or incidental to the erection, demolition, assembling, altering, installing or equipping of buildings, public or private highways, roads, premises, parks, utility lines including such lines in already-constructed tunnels, or other property, including land clearing, grading, excavating and filling.
(22) Construction device means any device designed and intended for use in construction including, but not limited to any air compressor, pile driver, sledgehammer, bulldozer, pneumatic hammer, steam shovel, derrick, crane, steam or electric hoist, construction vehicle or pneumatic or electric tool.
(23) Construction material means any material, regardless of composition, designed and customarily used in construction including but not limited to any rails, pillars, columns, beams, bricks, flooring, wall, ceiling or roofing material, gravel, sand, cement or asphalt.
(24) Container means any receptacle, regardless of contents, manufactured from wood, metal, plastic, paper or any other material including but not limited to any barrel, basket, box, crate, tub, bottle, can or refuse container.
(25) Decibel means the practical unit of measurement for sound pressure level; the number of decibels of a measured sound is equal to 20 times the logarithm to the base 10 of the ratio of the sound pressure to the pressure of a reference sound (20 micropascals); abbreviated "dB".
(26) Device means any mechanism which is intended to or which actually produces sound when operated or handled.
(27) Department means the department of environmental protection.
(28) Dwelling means any building lawfully occupied in whole or in part as the temporary or permanent residence of one or more natural persons.
(29) Dynamic insertion loss means the difference between two sound pressure levels which are measured at the same point in space before and after a muffler is inserted between the measurement point and the sound source under operating conditions.
(30) Emergency means a public calamity or an exposure of any person or property to imminent danger.
(31) Emergency signal device means any gong, siren whistle, or siren or any air horn or any similar device the use of which on authorized emergency vehicles is permitted by subdivision twenty-six of section three hundred seventy-five of the vehicle and traffic law.
(32) Exhaust source means a system which removes and transports air or gas from a device.
(33) Extraneous sound is sound that is intense, intermittent, not representative of the relatively steady sound levels at a given location and not attributable to a source or sources under investigation for violation of this code. Such sound includes but is not limited to sirens of passing emergency vehicles, unusually loud motor vehicle braking (screeching) or exhaust noise, people shouting, animal vocalization, passing aircraft, horn honking, car door slamming and passing trains. Notwithstanding the foregoing provision, sounds that are individually persistent or controlling of the sound level at a given location shall not be considered to be extraneous sounds if they constitute more than 50 percent of the duration of an ambient or total sound level measurement such as for example the sound of a passing aircraft at a specific location if airplanes regularly pass over such location and the proximity of such passing aircraft to the location, its sound level, and the duration of such sound level, control the sound level at the given location at the time the sound source under investigation is being measured. For the purposes of the enforcement of this code, extraneous sounds are excluded when measuring the ambient sound level at a given location and when measuring the sound level of a source or sources under investigation for violation of this code except where such sounds are themselves under investigation for violation of this code.
(34) Impulsive sound is sound that is of short duration, where each peak of sound lasts 2 seconds or less. The sound is characterized by abrupt onset and rapid decay. As used in this code, the term impulsive sound shall not include music.
(35) Internal combustion engine means a device for the production of energy by means of the combustion under pressure of fossil fuel.
(36) Lawn care device means any device powered mechanically, by electricity, by gasoline, by diesel fuel or by any other fuel, which is intended to be used or is actually used for the mowing of grass, the cutting or chipping of trees, tree roots or tree branches, or the clearing of leaves or other vegetation from lawns, sidewalks, public streets or public highways and shall include, but not be limited to, such devices as lawn mowers and lawn mower attachments, lawn edgers, leaf blowers, leaf vacuums, mulchers and chippers.
(37) Lmax means the maximum measured sound level at any instant in time.
(38) Motor vehicle means any device which is propelled by an engine in or upon which a person or material may be transported on the ground and which is intended to be operated upon a public highway.
(39) Muffler means an apparatus generally consisting of but not limited to a series of chambers or baffles for the purpose of transmitting gases while reducing sound levels.
(40) Owner means and includes the owner of the freehold of the premises or lesser estate therein, or mortgagee thereof, a lessee or agent of any of the above persons, a lessee of a device or his or her agent, a tenant, operator, or any other person who has regular control of a device or an apparatus.
(41) Paving breaker means any powered construction device intended to cut or trench pavement, subbase macadam, gravel, concrete or hard ground.
(42) Person means any individual, partnership, company, corporation, association, firm, organization, governmental agency, administration or department, or any other group of individuals, or any officer or employee thereof.
(43) Personal audio device means a portable sound reproduction device as normally and customarily used for personal purposes including but not limited to a personal radio, phonograph, television receiver, tape recorder or compact disc player. For the purposes of this definition such term shall include a sound reproduction device installed in or operated from a motor vehicle whether or not portable.
(44) Plainly audible sound means any sound for which any of the content of that sound, such as, but not limited to comprehensible musical rhythms, is communicated to a person using his or her unaided hearing faculties. For the purposes of the enforcement of this code, the detection of any component of music, including but not limited to the rhythmic bass by a person using his or her unaided hearing faculties is sufficient to verify plainly audible sound. It is not necessary for such person to determine the title, specific words or artist of such music. In the case of motor vehicles the detection of the sound of a muffler or of an exhaust by a person using his or her unaided hearing faculties is sufficient to verify plainly audible sound. Plainly audible sound does not require measurement with a sound level meter.
(45) Power tool means any device powered mechanically, by electricity, by gasoline, by diesel fuel or by any other fuel, which is intended to be used or is actually used for, but shall not be limited to, the performance of such functions as cutting, nailing, stapling, sawing, vacuuming or drilling.
(46) Public right-of-way means a public highway, road, street, avenue, alley, driveway, path, sidewalk, roadway or any other public place or public way.
(47) Railroad means a railroad, other than a rapid transit railroad or street railroad, operated for public use in the conveyance of persons or property for compensation, with all bridges, ferries, tunnels, equipment, switches, spurs, tracks, stations and terminal facilities used, operated or owned by or in connection therewith.
(48) Rapid transit railroad means a rapid transit railroad used for local service in the transportation of passengers as a common carrier for hire together with the appurtenances, facilities and equipment thereof.
(49) Receiving property means real property, including but not limited to buildings, grounds, offices and dwelling units, from which sound levels from sound sources outside such property may be measured. For the purposes of this definition, individual offices or dwelling units within a building may constitute a receiving property.
(50) Refuse collection vehicle means a motor vehicle designed or used to remove, collect, or transport refuse, solid waste or recyclables.
(51) Sound means an oscillation in pressure, stress, particle displacement, particle velocity, etc., in a medium with internal forces (e.g., elastic, viscous), or the superposition of such propagated oscillation which evokes an auditory sensation.
(52) Sound level meter means any instrument including a microphone, an amplifier, an output meter, and frequency weighting networks for the measurement of noise and sound levels in a specified manner and which complies with standards established by the American National Standards Institute specifications for sound level meters S1.4-1971, as amended or S1.4-1983, as amended.
(53) Sound pressure level (decibels) means an expression of the acoustic pressure calculated as twenty times the logarithm to the base ten of the ratio of the root mean square of the pressure of the sound to the reference pressure, 20 micropascals.
(54) Sound reproduction device means a device intended primarily for the production or reproduction of sound, including but not limited to any musical instrument, radio receiver, television receiver, tape recorder, phonograph or electronic sound amplifying system.
(55) Sound signal means any sound produced by a sound signal device designed to transmit information.
(56) Sound signal device means a device designed to produce a sound signal when operated, including but not limited to any claxon, air horn, whistle, bell, gong, siren, but not an emergency signal device.
(57) Sound source means any activity or device that emits sound.
(58) This code means the New York city noise control code.
(59) Total sound level means that measured sound level that represents the combined sound level of the source or sources under investigation and the ambient sound level. Total sound level measurements shall exclude extraneous sound sources.
(60) Tunnel means an underground passage which is intended for use as a railway, aqueduct, road, sewer or major utility artery.
(61) Tunneling means any activity necessary or incidental to the construction of any tunnel, including the sinking of shafts to tunnel or to an intermediate level and the surface activities required to sink the shafts and construct the tunnel.
(62) Unreasonable noise means any excessive or unusually loud sound that disturbs the peace, comfort or repose of a reasonable person of normal sensitivities, injures or endangers the health or safety of a reasonable person of normal sensitivities or which causes injury to plant or animal life, or damage to property or business.
(63) Refuse collection facility means any structure, building or other premises at which solid waste is received for the purpose of subsequent transfer to another location regardless of whether such solid waste is subject to any processing or reduction in volume at such structure, building or premises.
(Am. L.L. 2024/004, 1/6/2024, eff. 5/5/2024)
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2005/113.
Subchapter 2: General Provisions
(a) Subject to the provisions of this code, the commissioner may take such action as may be necessary to abate a sound source which causes or may cause, by itself or in combination with any other sound source or sources, an unreasonable or prohibited noise. The commissioner may exercise or delegate any of the functions, powers and duties vested in him or her or in the department by this code.
(b) The commissioner shall promulgate such rules as are necessary to effectuate the purposes of this code, including, without limitation, rules setting forth specifications for the operation, installation, best available technology, or manufacture of sound generating equipment or devices, or sound mitigation equipment or devices.
(c) The commissioner shall promulgate such rules as are necessary with regard to standards and procedures to be followed in the measurement of sound pressure levels governed by the provisions of this code, provided that such standards and procedures are substantially in compliance with any similar standards and procedures promulgated by the American National Standards Institute, International Standards Organization, Society of Automotive Engineers, Compressed Air and Gas Institute, American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers, American Refrigeration Institute or any generally recognized professional standard-setting organization.
(d) The police department, as well as other agencies of the city designated by the commissioner, shall have the authority to enforce the provisions of this code and police officers and designated employees of the department and of such other city agencies shall have the power to issue summonses, appearance tickets and notices of violation for violations of this code.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2005/113.
(a) The commissioner may make or cause to be made any investigation or study which in his or her opinion is desirable for the purpose of enforcing this code or controlling or abating an unreasonable or prohibited noise. For such purposes, the commissioner may make tests, conduct hearings, compel the attendance of witnesses, and take their testimony under oath and may compel the production of books, papers and other things reasonably necessary to the matter under consideration.
(b) The commissioner shall study and propose strategies to control and/or reduce sound levels associated with airports, rapid transit and railroad operations and within twenty-four months of the effective date of this section shall report to the mayor his or her findings and recommendations, specifically identifying those recommendations that may only be implemented through state or federal legislation or rules.
(c) The commissioner, in conjunction with the police department, shall study noise abatement strategies for audible motor vehicle burglar alarms and within twenty-four months of the effective date of this section shall report to the mayor his or her findings and recommendations.
(d) The commissioner, in conjunction with the police department, shall study on an ongoing basis emerging technology in acoustical measurement and shall periodically report to the mayor his or her findings and recommendations regarding the testing and potential use of equipment for enforcement of this code. In conjunction with such study, the commissioner may issue a request for expressions of interest to determine new and emerging technological solutions for accurate and efficient measurement of sounds as enumerated in this code.
(e) The commissioner shall study the impact of motor vehicle back-up warning devices installed on motor vehicles on ambient sound levels and within twenty-four months of the effective date of this section shall report to the mayor his or her findings and recommendations, specifically identifying those recommendations that may only be implemented through state or federal legislation.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2005/113.
(a) If the commissioner has reasonable cause to believe that any device is in violation of this code, the commissioner may order the owner of the device to conduct such tests as are necessary in the opinion of the commissioner to determine whether the device or its operation is in violation of this code and to submit the test results to the commissioner within ten days after the tests are completed.
(b) Such tests shall be conducted in a manner approved by the commissioner. If any part of the test is conducted at a place other than the site where the device is located, that part of the test shall be certified by a laboratory acceptable to the commissioner. The commissioner may require that the entire test results shall be reviewed and certified by (i) a professional engineer with acoustical experience as specified in the rules of the department or (ii) a noise consultant with qualifications of education and/or acoustical experience as set forth in the rules of the department.
(c) If in the opinion of the commissioner, tests by the department are necessary, the commissioner may order the owner to provide such access to the device as the commissioner may reasonably request, to provide a power source suitable to the points of testing, and to provide allied facilities, exclusive of sound level meter. These provisions shall be made at the expense of the owner of the device. The owner shall be furnished with copies of the analytical results of the data collected.
(d) If after the analysis of such testing, it is determined by the commissioner that such device or devices generate sound levels that exceed the limits of this code, the commissioner may make recommendations for modifications and/or mitigation measures to bring such device or devices into compliance.
(e) The commissioner may issue a separate notice of violation for every 24-hour period of noncompliance with the orders of the commissioner issued pursuant to this section.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2005/113.
(a) The department may inspect at any reasonable time and in a reasonable manner any device which creates or may create unreasonable or prohibited noise including but not limited to the premises where the device is used.
(b) The department may inspect at any reasonable time and in a reasonable manner any record relating to a use of a device which creates or may create unreasonable or prohibited noise.
(c) No person shall refuse entry or access into the public areas of a multiple dwelling or a place of business to an authorized employee of the department or other authorized city employee who presents appropriate credentials, nor shall any person refuse entry or access into any other portion of a premises to an authorized employee of the department or other authorized city employee who presents appropriate credentials and a warrant for such inspection.
(d) No person shall refuse to allow an authorized employee of the department or other authorized city employee who presents appropriate credentials to perform reasonable sound testing on any device or devices, including but not limited to requiring the temporary shutting down of said device or devices for the purposes of such testing except that upon a showing that the inspection would produce a noticeable interruption of services that would cause discomfort to employees or customers or require a building engineer or other professional to work with the equipment, such authorized employee shall reschedule the inspection for a more convenient time.
(e) The commissioner shall adopt rules prescribing specific time frames for inspections in response to after hours noise complaints received by the department in order to ensure that such inspections are most likely to occur at (i) a time that the alleged noise is continued from the time of the complaint or (ii) at a time when the alleged noise is likely to be repeated.
(f) The commissioner shall publish on the city's website:
(i) the manner by which noise levels shall be measured during an inspection conducted pursuant to this section and in accordance with section 24-217.1; and
(ii) the results of each such inspection, which shall be made available on the city’s website within 5 business days after such inspection has been completed.
(g) By no later than January 31 of each year, the department shall submit to the mayor and the council, and publicly post on the city’s website, a report, containing, at a minimum, for the previous calendar year:
(i) the number of inspectors employed by the department;
(ii) the number of complaints regarding noise received by the department, disaggregated by the type of noise;
(iii) the number of after hours noise complaints responded to within the amount of time prescribed by rule as well as the number of duplicative after hours noise complaints;
(iv) the number of non-violation resolutions to complaints;
(v) the number of noise related violations issued;
(vi) the number of such violations which were dismissed;
(vii) the amount of civil penalties which were paid pursuant to such violations;
(viii) the number of alternative noise mitigation plans approved pursuant to section 24-221; and
(ix) the number of written stop work orders issued pursuant to section 24-223.1.
(Am. L.L. 2018/053, 1/17/2018, eff. 7/16/2018; Am. L.L. 2024/005, 1/6/2024, eff. 1/6/2024)
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2005/113 and L.L. 2018/053.
(a) The commissioner may require the written registration of air compressors, paving breakers, refuse compacting vehicles and rapid transit railroads, including but not limited to its rolling stock, track and trackbeds, passenger stations, circulation devices rated 300,000 BTUs or higher, tunnels, elevated structures, yards, depots and garages. A period of sixty days shall be allowed for the filing of such registration measured from the date such registration is required by the commissioner or with respect to devices installed after such requirement is instituted measured from the date of installation. However, in cases of emergency, the commissioner may designate a shorter period of time.
(b) Registration shall be made on forms furnished by the department. The forms may require information concerning the device covered by the registration, the sound level caused by the device or any additional information required by the commissioner for the purpose of enforcing this code. The registrant shall maintain the registration in current status by notifying the department of any change in any item of information furnished in compliance with this subdivision within a reasonable time not exceeding thirty days after the change is made.
(c) Registration shall be made by the owner of the device. If a registrant is a partnership or group other than a corporation, the registration shall be made by one individual who is a member of the group. If the registrant is a corporation, the registration shall be made by an officer of the corporation.
Editor's note: For related unconsolidated provisions, see Appendix A at L.L. 2005/113.
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