THE SCIENCE AND APPLICATIONS OF ACOUSTICS - H. H. Arnold ...

13.12 Guidelines and Regulations in the United States 351Over the past few years, the European Commission of the EU has been laboringon a new directive regarding machinery used outdoors. Directive 200/14/ECrelating to the noise emission in the environment by equipment used outdoors wasadopted by the European Parliament and the Council and first published in May2000. This directive became effective January 3, 2003. Directive 2000/14/EC covers57 types of equipment for outdoor use, ranging from construction machineryto lawnmowers. It is intended to supersede similar directives that exist separatelyin the EU’s member nations. Directive 200/14/EC demands declarations frommanufacturers on the “guaranteed” sound power levels of their products beforethey can be marketed in the EU. Such products must bear a CE mark and anindication of their guaranteed sound output level and be accompanied by an EDdeclaration of conformity before they can be placed on the market. The guaranteedsound power level is that defined by ISO 3744-1995 with the addition of uncertainties(owing to production variations and measurement procedures), which themanufacturer confirms will not be exceeded. Therefore, in order to obtain estimatesof these uncertainties, a sampling procedure on the production line may beappropriate.The directive places sound power limits on 22 of the 57 types of machineryfor use outdoors. Of these 22, one half were already subject to noise limits laiddown in seven earlier directives (including Directive 98/0029 described in thefirst edition of this text). The remaining half of this group are subject to noiselimits for the first time. All manufacturers of products subject to noise limits mustfollow conformity assessment procedures under the supervision of organizationsappointed by the EU member states. Failure to comply with these regulations mayresult in nonconforming products being barred on the EU market.Over the past quarter century or so, a greater awareness of the impact of constructionnoise on the part of government agencies led to a series of codes andregulations for the control and mitigation of noise from construction sites. Theseacts generally cover (a) the erection, construction, alteration, repair, or maintenanceof buildings, structures, or roads; (b) the breaking up, opening, or boringunder any road or adjacent land in connection with the construction, inspection,maintenance, or removal of public or private works; (c) piling, demolition, ordredging works; or (d) any other work entailing engineering construction.A major cornerstone in the development of effective construction noise controlprograms may very well be the Construction Noise Control Specification 721.560developed by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority for the Central Artery Tunnel(CA/T) Project, also known as “the Big Dig.” In the Boston area, at the close ofthe 20th century, this 12-year plus undertaking ranks to date as the largest infrastructureconstruction project in the United States. With this project’s completionthe notorious Boston traffic bottleneck on U.S. Interstate Highway I-93 to/fromLogan International Airport should be alleviated, thus freeing up the City of Bostonand the entire New England corridor to normal traffic flow. Apart from doublingBoston’s highway capacity, this project should lead to modernization of Boston’sunderground utilities and enable the city to achieve positive growth in the 21stcentury.