Monday, June 10, 2019

Toronto is looking to tackle noise pollution, and about time too

I'm predicting that noise pollution will become a major environmental battleground in the 21st century, and I'm all in in favour of that. Maybe it is not so critical as air pollution and water pollution, and most people do not see it as a priority issue, it is certainly an annoyance, and it would be nice to see it addressed.
Noise is defined as any unwanted sound. There are municipal by-laws in place to keep unnecessary noise in check. For example, contstruction work that makes noise is only allowed between 7am and 7pm Monday to Friday, and from 9am to 7pm on Saturday (it is not allows at all on Sundays and statutory holidays), although some construction projects are able, somehow, to obtain permits to make noise outside those times). Music venues and individuals are banned from allowing ammplified music  to spill out onto residential city streets from 11pm to 7am. There is also a by-law against persistent and loud dog barking.
These three sources are the basis of most complaints about excessive noise. But there is also the more insidious issue of general ambient noise in the city, and this is only now starting to receive some attention. According to surveys, the most bothersome sources of noise are condo and home construction and renovations, motorcycles, alarms, noise from within houses (e.g. music, shouting), traffic, pet or animal noise, garden equipment (e.g. leaf-blowers, lawn-mowers, etc), emergency vehicle sirens, garbage trucks, airplanes, and noise from bars or restaurants. My own pet peeves are motorcycles (some of which have aftermarket exhaust tweaks to beliberqtly make them even louder, which is inexcusable), trucks, leaf-blowers, and that horrible peep-peeping from reversing vehicles.
A report from Toronto Public Health in June 2017 found that ambient noise levels are above provincially recommended levels 62% of the time (about 10dB above on average), and the public perception is that noise level are increasing. Now, you expect a certain amount of noise - that is part and parcel of city life. But we are talking here about excessive or objectionable noise. There is no reason to just accept ever-increasing noise as the necessary back-drop to progress, and excessive noise (often defined as above 85 dB) has been shown to be a health hazard, with palpable impacts on our quality of life.
Some cities are taking action. Edmonton is trying out a sound-trap system that automatically identifies offending vehicles; Vancouver has started ticketing excessively loud cars and motorcycles; leaf-blowers have been severely limited in some parts of Montreal. Further afield, California has brought in strict regulations on environmental noise, New York City instituted a comprehensive noise code way back in 1985, and Portland, Oregon has introduced fines of up to $5,000 for contravention of its noise rules, which are widely considered a model for other municipalities.
And now, Toronto is stepping up to the challenge, and the Municipal Licensing and Standards is looking to update city noise regulations, which have not been updated since 2002. Personally, I look forward to it.

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