Lassen County, CA Noise Ordinances: Decibel Limits (2026)

Lassen County Code Section 9.65.040 establishes the county's exterior noise limits. It is a public nuisance for any person to cause or allow noise exceeding the one-hour average sound-level limits in Table 1 when measured at the property line of the property on which the noise is produced, or at any location on a receiving property. 'Sound level' is the A-weighted sound pressure level in decibels referenced to 20 micropascals. For residentially used property the limits are 65 dBA (7 a.m.-7 p.m.), 60 dBA (7 p.m.-10 p.m.) and 55 dBA (10 p.m.-7 a.m.). The county's 2021 Noise Element translates these into community-level CNEL standards (Standard N-1 / Table 7): exterior limits of 65 dBA CNEL for residential, recreational/open space and institutional uses, 75 dBA for commercial/retail, and 90 dBA for industrial, agriculture, resource-extraction and public right-of-way uses; interior standards are 45 dBA (residential/institutional) and 50 dBA (commercial). A higher-allowance source must still not exceed 65 dBA CNEL at a residential property boundary. For residences on agriculture-zoned land, measurement is taken at the yard-area boundary (a 50-foot radius) or property line, whichever is closer.