Colonie, NY Noise Ordinances: Industrial Noise (2026)

Chapter 135 Section 135-4 of the Town Code distinguishes between residential/commercial property (65 dBA at the property line during the nighttime window) and industrial property (75 dBA at the property line during the same window). The 10-dBA differential reflects standard land-use noise practice and is roughly equivalent to a doubling in perceived loudness. Beyond the dBA caps, daytime industrial activity is controlled through (1) the reasonable-person catch-all in Section 135-4, (2) the Town Code Chapter 190 (Zoning and Land Use), which separates manufacturing (M-1, M-2) districts from residential through bulk and use requirements, and (3) site-plan and special-use permit conditions imposed at the Planning Board level. New York has no statewide ambient-noise standard equivalent to New Jersey's N.J.A.C. 7:29 (which sets 65 dBA daytime / 50 dBA nighttime at residential lines from industrial sources). NYSDEC issues guidance through DEC Program Policy DEP-00-1 (Assessing and Mitigating Noise Impacts), but the policy applies primarily to DEC-permitted facilities and is not directly enforced by the Town. Common-law private nuisance remains available in Albany County Supreme Court for properties adjacent to industrial operations. Federal EPA noise authority under the Noise Control Act of 1972 (42 U.S.C. Section 4901) was effectively defunded in 1982 and is not enforced.