Sonora, CA Noise Ordinances: Aircraft Noise (2026)

Aircraft noise is the one category where a local ordinance would have little reach even if the county adopted one. Under long-standing federal preemption, the Federal Aviation Administration has exclusive sovereignty over U.S. navigable airspace and controls flight patterns, routes, and altitudes, so states and local governments generally cannot regulate aircraft operations or impose in-flight noise standards. The Airport Noise and Capacity Act of 1990 and its implementing regulations (14 C.F.R. Part 161) further bar local jurisdictions from imposing noise-based access restrictions or curfews on airports without FAA approval, and airports accepting federal Airport Improvement Program grants take on assurances that limit local noise restrictions. Consistent with this framework, unincorporated Tuolumne County has no aircraft-noise ordinance, and the county FAQ confirms there is no general noise ordinance at all. Where local authority does exist, it is limited and indirect: a county can influence ground-level activity and land use around an airport (for example, Columbia Airport, a county-operated general-aviation field) through zoning and airport land-use compatibility planning, but it cannot dictate how aircraft fly or how loud they may be in the air. Complaints about specific overflights or airport operations are therefore generally matters for the airport operator and the FAA rather than for county code enforcement.