Aircraft noise in unincorporated Santa Clara County is largely outside local control: federal law (FAA) preempts local enforcement of aircraft and airport noise regulations. The County manages compatibility through its Airport Land Use Commission and General Plan, with four public-use airports including San Martin and Reid-Hillview.
Aircraft noise is not regulated through the County's general noise ordinance limits. Under Chapter 65 of Title 42 of the U.S. Code and Articles 3 and 3.5 of Chapter 4 of Division 9 of the California Public Utilities Code, local enforcement of noise regulations and land-use regulations related to noise control of airports is preempted by the FAA. Santa Clara County instead manages aircraft-noise impacts through land-use compatibility rather than direct noise enforcement. There are four public-use airports in the county - Palo Alto Airport, San Martin Airport, Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, and Reid-Hillview County Airport (a County-operated airport). The County's Airport Land Use Commission adopts Comprehensive Land Use Plans and noise-contour mapping (commonly using the CNEL metric, which penalizes evening and nighttime noise) to guide compatible development around airports; County General Plan policy directs that land uses approved by the County and cities be consistent with the adopted policies of the Santa Clara County Airport Land Use Commission Plan. For everyday aircraft-noise complaints, residents are typically directed to the operating airport or the FAA rather than to County code enforcement, because the County cannot impose or enforce aircraft operating-noise limits.
There is no County aircraft-noise decibel limit to violate; local enforcement of aircraft and airport noise is preempted by the FAA. Compliance issues instead arise as land-use compatibility matters under the Airport Land Use Commission Plan and County General Plan, and operational complaints go to the airport or FAA.
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