Milpitas, CA Noise Ordinances: Aircraft Noise (2026)

Aircraft and flight noise are outside the reach of the Milpitas Municipal Code. Under the federal Aviation framework - the Federal Aviation Act of 1958, the Noise Control Act of 1972, and U.S. Supreme Court precedent (City of Burbank v. Lockheed Air Terminal) - the FAA holds exclusive authority over aircraft-in-flight noise and airspace, and local governments are preempted from regulating aircraft operations, routes, schedules, or in-flight noise. As a result, Milpitas's noise chapter (213) regulates only ground-based sound (machinery, amplified sound, vehicles, construction) and contains no aircraft-noise provision. Milpitas sits in northern Santa Clara County near San Jose Mineta International Airport (SJC); flight-path and overflight noise are managed through that airport's noise program and FAA processes, not by city ordinance. California's Airport Noise Standards (California Code of Regulations Title 21) govern noise impact around airports through airport-proprietor noise programs and the CNEL (Community Noise Equivalent Level) framework, and the city addresses airport noise compatibility in land-use terms through its General Plan Noise Element rather than through enforceable Chapter 213 limits. Residents disturbed by aircraft should direct complaints to the airport's noise office and the FAA rather than to Milpitas code enforcement.