Sacramento County's Noise Control ordinance (County Code Chapter 6.68) caps exterior sound at a residential property line at 55 dBA during the day and 50 dBA at night. Data center cooling systems and backup generators must meet these limits where they affect nearby homes.
Sacramento County has no noise rule written specifically for data centers, so a facility's chillers, cooling towers, and diesel backup generators are held to the countywide Noise Control ordinance in Chapter 6.68 of the County Code. Section 6.68.070 sets the exterior noise standard measured at the property line of an affected residential parcel: 55 dBA daytime (7 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and 50 dBA nighttime (10 p.m. to 7 a.m.), taken one foot inside the residential property line. Because generators run under load during monthly testing and outages, noise impacts on adjoining homes are also analyzed in CEQA review, which can require acoustic enclosures, barrier walls, or exhaust silencers as conditions of approval.
Cooling or generator noise exceeding 55 dBA by day or 50 dBA at night at a residential property line violates Chapter 6.68; Sacramento County can require mitigation and pursue abatement, and unmitigated impacts can block or condition approval under CEQA.
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Side-by-side rule comparisons with other cities in Sacramento County.
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