7 county-level rules, plus city-specific rules for 3 cities in Kern County, California.
Verified from official government sources
Kern County's Noise Control chapter (Title 8, Chapter 8.36) does not set general residential quiet hours; only construction noise has explicit time limits. The 'loud and raucous noise' standard in Section 8.36.020 applies 24 hours a day in unincorporated areas.
Kern County Code § 8.36.010
'Loud and raucous noise' means any sound created and/or transmitted in any manner whatever which is of such volume, intensity or carrying power as to interfere with or disturb the reasonable and quiet comfortable enjoyment of life or property or which is adverse to the general public welfare in any neighborhood.
Section 8.36.020 prohibits construction noise between 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. weekdays and 9:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. weekends when audible at 150 feet from the site, if the site is within 1,000 feet of an occupied residential dwelling. Emergency work is exempt.
Kern County Code § 8.36.020
It is unlawful for any person to create noise from construction between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. on weekdays and 9:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m. on weekends which is audible to a person with average hearing faculties or capacity at a distance of 150 feet from the construction site, if the construction site is within 1,000 feet from an occupied residential dwelling. The development services ...
Section 7.08.380 of the Kern County Code makes it unlawful to keep or harbor any animal whose howling, yelping, barking, or other noise disturbs or annoys a neighborhood. Each day of continued violation is a separate offense; second and subsequent violations are misdemeanors.
Kern County Code § 7.08.380
The keeping or harboring of any animal or fowl, whether licensed or not, which by howling, yelping, barking or other noise which is offensive to the senses, is injurious to health, disturbs or annoys any considerable number of persons or any neighborhood so as to interfere with the enjoyment of life or property, is unlawful and is a public nuisance, and each day that such act is continued const...
No Kern County-specific ordinance directly restricts leaf blower use, hours, or decibel levels in unincorporated areas; the county's general noise rules and California's statewide small off-road engine law (HSC Sec. 43018.11) are what apply.
Cal. Health & Safety Code Sec. 43018.11 (AB 1346, Stats. 2021, Ch. 753)
(a)(1) By July 1, 2022, the state board shall, consistent with federal law, adopt cost-effective and technologically feasible regulations to prohibit engine exhaust and evaporative emissions from new small off-road engines, as defined by the state board. Those regulations shall apply to engines produced on or after January 1, 2024, or as soon as the state board determines is feasible, whichever...
Section 8.36.020 of the Kern County Code prohibits operating any public address system or sound equipment when the sound emanates beyond the confines of a permanent building to a degree that constitutes 'loud and raucous noise,' or when used to promote any private affair, business, or commercial enterprise.
Kern County Code § 8.36.020
It is unlawful for any person to operate any public address system in any event when the sound emanating therefrom can be heard beyond the confines of any permanent building to such degree that such sound constitutes a loud and raucous noise; or to operate any public address system when the sound can be heard beyond the confines of a permanent building when such operation constitutes the promot...
Kern County does not impose local aircraft-overflight noise restrictions; aircraft noise is federally preempted by the FAA. The county participates in a FAR Part 150 Noise Compatibility Program for Meadows Field Airport (BFL), approved by the FAA effective September 18, 2008.
73 Fed. Reg. 62,640 (Oct. 21, 2008) — Meadows Field Noise Compatibility Program Approval
The County of Kern submitted to the FAA on May 23, 2008, the noise exposure maps, descriptions, and other documentation produced during the noise compatibility planning study conducted from January 2005 through April 2008 ... The FAA has formally received the noise compatibility program for Meadows Field Airport, also effective on June 19, 2008.
Stationary noise sources at commercial and industrial sites within 500 feet of residentially developed and zoned property in unincorporated Kern County may not exceed an average 65 dB Ldn, with a tighter nighttime test between 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m.
Kern County Zoning Ordinance Sec. 19.80.030(S) (Ch. 19.80, Special Development Standards)
All non-mobile sources of noise produced by commercial and industrial uses, except for those located within the M-3 District, and located within five hundred (500) feet of property developed residentially and zoned for residential use (E, R-1, R-2 and R-3) shall comply with the following exterior noise standards: 1. The use shall not generate noise that exceeds an average 65 dB Ldn (24 hour med...
3 cities in Kern County have their own noise ordinances rules. Each link goes to that city's dedicated page with code citations.
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