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Providence Noise Project News
“Noise is the new Smoking”
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Thanks for your interest in the Providence Noise Project, and for subscribing to our e-mail list. Below is an update on recent noise-related developments and upcoming initiatives this Spring.
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Leafblower Bills: Big on Smith Hill, But Not on Dorrance St.
Although not everyone in Providence is exposed to noise and other unhealthy emissions from gas- powered leafblowers, they're increasingly recognized as a significant national issue, and more and more cities and towns are mulling laws to regulate and even prohibit their use. That now includes Rhode Island (at least at the state level), where two very different bills have been introduced in both houses of the General Assembly, even as the issue languishes in the Providence City Council.
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Providence's own Sen. Sam Zurier is the lead sponsor of S-2168, an air-pollution bill that seeks to end the sale of gas-powered leafblowers in RI (except for out-of-state use) by July 2023, and then ban their in-state use by July 2024. Please contact Sen. Zurier and tell him you support his bill.
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In the RI House, Providence Reps. Edith Ajello (D1), Rebecca Kislak (D4), and David Morales (D7) are among the co-sponsors of H-7543, a much broader zero-emission lawncare bill that also takes a longer and more circuitous path to curtailing gas leafblowers. (We'll discuss the details of H-7543 in a future e-mail.) Please contact your specific representative (Ajello, Kislak, or Morales ) to tell them that you support the goals of the bill, but it needs to be implemented more quickly, and not give business interests so many chances to obstruct the key elements of an effective climate policy.
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Still, RI state legislators' recognition of the environmental and public-health effects of gas-powered leafblowers stands in stark contrast to the Providence City Council's failure to pass even the most basic limits on their use. Members of the Noise Project's Leafblower Committee testified in early November 2021 in support of a proposal by Ward 1 Councilmember John Goncalves to amend the city's noise law to regulate leafblowers, but nearly five months later, there's still been no vote or other movement on his amendments — worth remembering during primary elections in September.
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In an effort to move things forward, the Noise Project contacted some local landscaping companies to try to initiate a dialogue, but as yet has received no response. Please contact Councilmembers Goncalves, Helen Anthony, and Nirva LaFortune (who's now running for mayor) and urge them to push for a vote to move the leafblower amendment to the full City Council. Every Councilmember should be on record before the primaries as to whether they voted to limit leafblowers’ ecological and health effects on both residents and workers, especially when better alternatives already exist.
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The Other RI Housing Boom
On the subject of state legislation, Providence’s state representatives — Nathan Biah (D3), Grace Diaz (D11), David Morales (D7), and Scott Slater (D10) — are co-sponsoring (along with Karen Alzate of Pawtucket) H-7197, an amendment to Rhode Island's existing fireworks law to establish stricter controls on their sale and use.
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Under current RI law, only ground-based and hand-held “sparklers” are legal for use by the general public. Any firecrackers, rockets, mortars, or any other device that launches a projectile and / or emits a “bang” are illegal. Numerous studies have documented the dangers of such explosives, with almost 13,000 firework-related injuries treated in U.S. hospitals in 2017, and nearly 20,000 fires started by fireworks every year. Yet they are widely used in Providence in warm-weather months.
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In addition to the House bill, Rep. Diaz has indicated that she plans to contact Providence City Council members to try to revive Councilmember Jo-Ann Ryan's June 2020 initiative to crack down on illegal fireworks. Please contact Rep. Diaz, as well as your specific representative — Biah, Morales, or Slater — and tell them you support their bill and any and all other efforts to curtail the use of illegal, dangerous, and unhealthy fireworks in Rhode Island and especially in Providence.
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The Noise Project welcomes all of the new state bills, but as is generally the case with most sources of noise, enforcement mechanisms are equally if not more important than specific elements of the laws that regulate them. Even a theoretically “perfect” law can do nothing if it isn't enforced, and as we unfortunately see far too often, the Providence city government’s enforcement of existing noise ordinances is mostly sporadic and inconsistent at best, and often seems practically non-existent.
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It's important to note here that “enforcement” is not simply a synonym for “police” — there are other ways to reduce the incidence of non-violent infractions and misdemeanors besides leaving them to the police, or in their absence, doing nothing. But unless and until the mayor, City Council, and state legislature are willing to consider and implement more creative and effective ways to ensure that the public's safety, health, and well-being are maintained, we will continue to suffer a noisy status quo.
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Noise in the ’Hood 3: The Return of Sound Monitoring
In early 2021, the Noise Project had to postpone plans to measure ambient noise levels at various locations around Providence, but we are now working with researchers at Brown University to gather sound-level data all over the city, and are once again seeking “hosting” sites for the related sound-monitoring equipment. Anyone who previously offered to allow us to measure noise at their residence or business is still eligible, as are any new folks that would like to participate.
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The monitoring equipment consists of a tripod and microphone measuring 18” x 7” x 14” and needs to remain in a secure outdoor location — such as a backyard, porch, balcony, or even a flat rooftop — for one week. It does not require an electrical plug, and does not record the surrounding sound itself (i.e., voices, conversations, music, etc), but rather sound levels, as measured in decibels.
Installing / removing the equipment takes about five minutes, and does not require property owners to be present if you are willing to provide access to the hosting site in your absence. If you'd like to measure the sound levels around your home or business, please contact the Noise Project. We will pass your details on to our partners at Brown to arrange a date and time for installation and pick-up.
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Commercial Noise Without a TV
In addition to leafblowers, fireworks, illegal mufflers, over-amplified car and home stereos, and other frequent sources of noise, one of the issues we’ve encountered in certain parts of the city is noise from commercial venues such as bars, clubs, and restaurants — some of which operate above legal sound limits, outside of legal hours, and even without proper licenses for amplified music.
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If you know of commercial venues that seem to be producing noise (music or otherwise) above the legal limits for the times and places in which they operate, please contact the Noise Project and tell us the name and address, the type(s) of noise it emits, and when you hear it most often, as well as any other details you think are important for us to know. We support small business, but not the view that it requires subjecting residents to ongoing and systemic violations of city and state laws.
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We are in the process of creating a Commercial Noise Committee to investigate violations of Providence noise ordinances by for-profit entities, as well as the city government's responses to them. If you have thoughts about how we should do that, or want to volunteer to support our efforts, please contact us at info@providencenoiseproject.org and put “commercial” in the subject line.
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When They Go Low, We Get a New Logo
You may have noticed the Noise Project's new logo at the top of this newsletter or on our website. We think it's a big improvement over our interim / launch-stage version: a vibrating pin in Rhode Island, on a map of New England. (And special thanks also to our old Twitter logo, affectionately known as “Woman in Orange Shirt Holding Her Ears” — we wish her luck in her future endeavors.)
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In addition to a new logo, we're continually updating our website's Resources page with more noise-related media coverage, as well as clinical studies on the health effects of noise, and stay tuned for upcoming announcements about new maps and other graphics illustrating the data we collect in our noise survey. (If there are other things you want to see on the website, let us know.)
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Coming soon: Responses to questions for all four announced candidates in the upcoming mayoral election about their proposed noise policies, a new program to tackle noise from illegal modified mufflers, and other efforts to try to bring the amount of noise in Providence down to healthier levels.
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Three Ways YOU Can Help Support the Providence Noise Project
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Send us your thoughts and ideas on noise issues or the Project itself via the Contact form on our website
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To donate or volunteer your time and / or expertise to help address noise in the city, please contact us
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