Technology for a Quieter America (2010)

The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) administers four accredited standards committees under contract with the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). See http://www.acosoc.org/standards. The four committees deal with noise and its effects:

• Accredited Standards Committee S12 Noise,

• Accredited Standards Committee S1 Acoustics,

• Accredited Standards Committee S2 Mechanical Vibration and Shock, and

• Accredited Standards Committee S3 Bioacoustics.

These committees are referred to as accredited standards committees (ASCS) because they are accredited by ANSI and function according to operating procedures approved by ANSI. To maintain their accredited status, the operation of the committees is subject to periodic audits by ANSI. These committees are composed of organizational members who vote on proposed consensus standards; criteria and dues for membership are established by each committee, and balance of interested parties is required. As of November 2008, S12 had 48 organizational members, S1 had 17 organizational members, S2 had 38 organizational members, and S3 had 27 organizational members. Each ASA ASC also has individual experts who assist each committee by providing technical expertise.

ASA pays a substantial annual fee to ANSI to be allowed to administer these committees. The ASA does this as a public service in furtherance of its mission to “increase and diffuse the knowledge of acoustics and promote its practical application.”

Other organizations have ANSI-approved accredited standards committees that deal with noise; some of their standards are listed below. Many of these standards rely on basic acoustic or noise standards developed by ASA ASC S1, S12, S2, and S3.

Other organizations promulgate standards or recommended practices that are not accredited by ANSI and are not American National Standards. Such organizations include the Institute of Noise Control Engineering, the Audio Engineering Society (AES), and others, including trade associations.

The ASA also administers nine U.S. Technical Advisory Groups (U.S. TAGs). These U.S TAGs review international documents—primarily draft standards—and develop the U.S. position on them. They also provide the pool of candidates for appointment to international working groups and volunteers to coordinate and prepare draft U.S. positions (http://www.acosoc.org/standards/). The TAGs are also ANSI-accredited. The nine TAGs are:

• U.S. TAG for ISO/TC 43, Acoustics

• U.S. TAG for ISO/TC 43/SC 1, Noise

• U.S. TAG for ISO/TC 108, Mechanical vibration, shock, and condition monitoring

• U.S. TAG for ISO/TC 108/SC 2, Measurement and evaluation of mechanical vibration and shock as applied to machines, vehicles, and structures

• U.S. TAG for ISO/TC 108/SC 3, Use and calibration of vibration and shock measuring instruments

• U.S. TAG for ISO/TC 108/SC 4, Human exposure to mechanical vibration and shock

• U.S. TAG for ISO/TC 108/SC 5, Condition monitoring and diagnostics of machines

• U.S. TAG for ISO/TC 108/SC 6, Vibration- and shock-generating systems

• U.S. TAG for IEC/TC 29, Electroacoustics

As with the S committees, ASA pays a substantial annual fee to ANSI to be allowed to administer the U.S. TAGs in these subject areas. The TAGs are also accredited by ANSI and must follow their accredited operating procedures.

The following committees of the International Organization for Standardization (http://www.iso.org) have an interest in noise or sound:

Examples of standards related to noise developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (http://www.iec.ch) are:

This page intentionally left blank.