Santa Barbara County, CA Noise Ordinances: Industrial Noise (2026)

Unincorporated Santa Barbara County does not regulate industrial noise through a dedicated decibel ordinance in its nighttime noise chapter (Chapter 40), which targets loud amplified noise broadcast from residences and buildings at night. Instead, noise from industrial, energy, agricultural-processing and commercial operations is primarily managed at the land-use stage. When such facilities are reviewed for conditional use permits or development plans, the County applies the General Plan Noise Element's land-use compatibility guidelines and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review, and imposes project-specific noise limits as conditions of approval. Environmental impact reviews for major projects in the county routinely set quantified noise thresholds and require mitigation such as enclosures, hours-of-operation limits and setback or screening measures at sensitive receptors. The Air Pollution Control District separately regulates emissions but not general noise. At night, any loud amplified outdoor sound from a facility would also be subject to the Chapter 40 restrictions and could be treated as a public nuisance. Operators of industrial or commercial uses in unincorporated areas should look to their specific permit's conditions of approval and the Noise Element rather than a single code section for binding limits. These are County standards for the unincorporated area; cities regulate industrial noise separately.