Howard County, MD Noise Ordinances: Aircraft Noise (2026)

, respectively). But subsection (d) lists 14 categories of noise sources the county has decided not to regulate under this ordinance at all, and item (7) removes aircraft from coverage entirely: aircraft and related airport operations at airports licensed by the State Aviation Administration are exempt, alongside other transportation-related sources such as motor vehicles on public roads, boats on state waters, and rapid rail transit and railroads. Because the exemption is written into the noise ordinance itself rather than left to interpretation, a resident near an airport, a heliport, or a private landing strip that carries a Maryland State Aviation Administration license cannot bring a noise complaint against flight operations, engine run-ups, or related airport ground activity under Title 8, Subtitle 9 of the County Code.

Aircraft noise in Maryland is instead governed by federal aviation authority and state airport licensing, both of which sit outside the county's regulatory reach; Howard County has no separate local ordinance addressing flight paths, curfews, or airport noise-abatement programs. The exemption was enacted as part of the noise ordinance's 1997 rewrite under Council Bill 49, 1997, and has carried forward through the section's most recent amendment, Council Bill 66, 2019.