An editor's view of the EPA noise program

The noise program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began prior to the passage of the Noise Control Act of 1972 (NCA 72). The passage of NCA 72 led to a decade-long program by the EPA to control environmental noise in the United States through regulation, labeling, and cooperation with State and local governments. In this paper, a brief history of the efforts of the EPA to control environmental noise is given, and some of the lessons learned from that program are described. The program was effectively terminated in 1981 through loss of funding for noise abatement.