Noise Bill Moves Forward

The D.C. Council voted unanimously today to approve legislation that limits noncommercial amplified noise. The vote in the council’s committee of the whole clears the way for a swift first-reading approval during the council’s legislative meeting later today on May 6.

The bill had been tabled 7-5 on a motion by Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans at a Feb. 19 council meeting. The move followed strenuous lobbying from the local AFL-CIO, who held that any noise bill would unduly restrict their abilities to hold union protest rallies.

In response to the move, noise-bill advocates shortly afterward took to the streets with loudspeakers in front of Evans’ Georgetown home early on weekend mornings.