Brunswick County, NC Noise from Specific Sources: Generator Noise (2026)

Sec. 1-9-565(a)(14) of the county's noise exemptions lists "all noises emanating from emergency work during a natural disaster, declared State of Emergency, or other incident requiring emergent activity to protect life or property, including, but not limited to, construction activities, generator use, machinery or heavy equipment" as exempt from Sec. 1-9-563's specific prohibitions. curfew, its plainly-audible standard, or its civil and criminal penalties for that generator noise, regardless of the hour. The exemption is tied to the emergency itself, however: it covers emergent activity to protect life or property, not routine or recreational generator use on an ordinary day.

Sec. 1-9-565(b) also puts the burden of proof on whoever claims the benefit of an exemption, so a resident or contractor relying on this provision would need to show the noise was genuinely tied to emergency work during a qualifying disaster or declared emergency. Because generators are not otherwise named as their own category anywhere in Sec. 1-9-563's list of specific prohibitions, the code does not set a standalone decibel limit, curfew, or distance test for everyday generator use outside of a declared emergency. As with the rest of the article, this exemption is part of the county's own ordinance and applies only in unincorporated Brunswick County, not inside Leland, Southport, Oak Island or the county's other incorporated towns.