General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGuess Which President Abolished The Office Of Noise Abatement & Control!
A lot of people don't even know there ever was such an agency working to deal with noise pollution.
Noise pollution is a pet issue of mine. Noise pollution leads to huge amounts of stress and impacts our environment in so many ways that aren't' so easy to see.
The Noise Control Act of 1972 (42 U.S.C. 4901 to 4918) established a national policy to promote a healthy, noise-free environment for all Americans. The Act requires the coordination of federal research and activities in noise control, authorizes the establishment of federal noise emissions standards for commercial products, and authorizes the dissemination of information to the public regarding the noise characteristics of commercial products.
To enforce the Noise Control Act, the Office of Noise Abatement and Control was created within EPA.
In 1981, the director of ONAC was informed that the Office of Management and Budget, under President Reagan‟s order, was eliminating all funding for ONACand that the issue was non-negotiable. Congress complied.
snip
President Reagan stripped ONAC of its funding because of pressure from industries affected by ONAC‟s noise regulations. Reagan was committed to deregulating the economy. He also asserted that noise pollution was merely a state and local matter.
Even though ONAC‟s funding was eliminated, the Noise Control Act of 1972 remains in effect. The EPA remains legally responsible for enforcing the Act‟s provisionsbut lacks the funds necessary to do so.
To make matters worse, The Noise Control Act forbids local and state government from regulating many types of noise, making it more difficult for local jurisdictions to control and reduce noise pollution.
http://www.noisefree.org/ONAC_2010.pdf
Initech
(100,098 posts)MrScorpio
(73,631 posts)Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)Nixon really ripped open the festering wound of racism in the 1970s and it's had a foothold on politics ever since.