Sponsors (27)
The bill restores federal attention, research, grant funding, and local capacity to reduce harmful noise exposure—improving health, learning, and environmental‑justice outcomes—while imposing several million dollars in new federal spending and potential compliance, administrative, and legal trade‑offs for businesses, airports, and governments.
People living near highways, airports, rail lines, and other noisy sites will get renewed federal research, monitoring, grants, and support to implement noise‑abatement plans, which should enable concrete reductions in harmful noise exposure and associated health risks.
State and local governments will receive grants, technical assistance, training, and equipment (including Quiet Communities grants and $25M/year funding through 2026–2030) to build and sustain noise-control programs and plan long-term abatement efforts.
Children and schools may experience improved learning environments if classroom and traffic noise are reduced through resumed EPA abatement programs and community noise controls.
Taxpayers will incur new federal costs (about $125 million across 2026–2030 plus potential additional program spending) to restore and run the Office and grants.
Manufacturers, small businesses, airports, and operators could face new compliance, labeling, monitoring, or operational costs to meet noise-related requirements or to accommodate changes (including potential friction with FAA measurement/operations).
States and localities may face administrative burdens and coordination costs to apply for, implement, and run new programs; repealing prior statutory language could create legal or transitional complexity for existing programs.
Based on analysis of 5 sections of legislative text.
Reestablishes an EPA Office of Noise Abatement, mandates research and an aircraft noise study, updates the Noise Control Act, repeals a 1970 law, and authorizes $25M/year for FY2026–2030.
Reestablishes an Office of Noise Abatement and Control within the EPA, directs that office to run research, assessment, technical assistance, grants, public education, and regional support to reduce harmful environmental noise. It requires an EPA study and congressional report on aircraft noise, amends and narrows program language in the Noise Control Act, repeals the Noise Pollution and Abatement Act of 1970, and authorizes $25 million per year for fiscal years 2026–2030 to fund the office. The bill focuses on noise as an environmental and public‑health problem (including hearing loss, sleep disruption, cardiovascular and learning impacts) and restores federal program authority and funding that lapsed in the 1980s to assist states, localities, and affected populations in noise mitigation and research.
Official title: To reestablish the Office of Noise Abatement and Control in the Environmental Protection Agency, and for other purposes.
Introduced September 4, 2025 by Grace Meng · Last progress September 4, 2025