1982
1982 - Analysis of Noise-Related Auditory and Associated Health Problems in the U.S. Adult Population (1971-1975), EPA Report No. 550/9-81-103B. Washington D.C., Office of Noise Abatement.
The "Politics of Noise" and Neuhaus’s Critique.
Neuhaus was a vocal critic of how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and local departments, such as New York's Department of Air Resources, categorized urban sound. His stance is often cited in contrast to reports like the one you mentioned:
In 1974, Neuhaus published a New York Times editorial, "BANG, BOOooom, ThumP, EEEK, tinkle," specifically attacking an EPA-related pamphlet titled Noise Makes You Sick. He argued that calling all urban sound "intrinsically bad" or "sickening" was the acoustic equivalent of "painting the environment black".
While the 1982 EPA report used clinical data to link noise to auditory and health problems, Neuhaus maintained that human response to sound is socially conditioned. He believed that by making citizens afraid of their aural environment, bureaucrats were stripping them of their ability to engage with the city.
The "Ecological" Alternative: Instead of noise abatement (silencing), Neuhaus proposed sound design. He famously worked on redesigning emergency sirens in the 1980s to be locatable and informative rather than just loud and "authoritarian," directly addressing the health and stress concerns raised in EPA reports through a creative, utilitarian lens.