Monterey Park, CA Noise from Specific Sources: Generator Noise (2026)

Chapter 4.50 lists several categories of sound that are not 'noise disturbances' for purposes of the chapter, and Section 4.50.050(b) covers emergencies: emergency repairs addressing a health or safety risk, and emergency generators or equipment used during a power outage or other emergency, are both exempt outright from the chapter's noise level limits. That sits alongside a separate exemption for emergency warning devices such as fire alarms, burglar alarms, warning devices on emergency vehicles and train horns (Section 4.50.050(c)), and for public works projects that public agencies or their contractors cannot perform outside of seven a.m. to six p.m. on weekdays (Section 4.50.050(d)).

Outside of an actual power outage or emergency, though, a portable generator run for convenience is not covered by this exemption and instead falls under the chapter's general dBA ceilings in Section 4.50.080, which cap residential noise at 50 dBA at night and 55 dBA in the day, or under the construction-noise hours in Section 4.50.100(a) if it is being used on a job site. The exemption itself is not time-limited or capped by a maximum duration in the text of Section 4.50.050(b); it lasts as long as the power outage or emergency does.