Noise ordinances › Eugene, OR

Eugene noise ordinance: quiet hours, limits and complaints

Last updated: November 9, 2026

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Quiet hours in Eugene

Eugene's general rule has no clock: it is unlawful to intentionally or recklessly create or continue a noise disturbance at any hour (4.080(2)). Night windows sit on top of it. Sound equipment (a radio, drums and other musical instruments, a phonograph, television set, tape recorder, loud speaker or similar device) may not be plainly audible within any dwelling unit that is not the source of the sound between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day (4.083(a)(1)). On public property or a public right-of-way the same equipment may not be plainly audible fifty feet or more from the device at any hour, unless a city, county, state or federal government has authorized it in writing (4.083(a)(2)). Between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. an idling engine may not run for more than 15 consecutive minutes so as to be plainly audible within any dwelling unit (6.750(b)), and loading or unloading a vehicle, or opening, closing or destroying bales, boxes, crates and containers, may not create a noise disturbance (6.750(c)). Constructing (including excavating), demolishing, altering or repairing any building, street, sidewalk, driveway, sewer or utility line is barred between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day (6.750(d)). Pile drivers, steam shovels, pneumatic hammers, derricks, steam or electric hoists, leaf blowers and lawnmowers are barred between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day (6.750(e)). None of these sections sets different hours for weekends or holidays. Animals have no clock either: vocal or other sounds on a sustained basis during a 15-minute period are a noise disturbance (4.083(b)), and an owner may not permit an animal to cause annoyance for more than 15 continuous minutes at any time of the day or night (4.330, 4.430). Commercial and industrial sources have lower night levels from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. (6.752), and so does the Natural Resource zone standard (9.2530(20)).

Decibel limits

No general decibel limit. Chapter 4 sets no decibel figure: a noise disturbance is any sound that injures or endangers the safety or health of a human, annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities, or endangers or injures personal or real property (4.080(1)(a)), and plainly audible means the listener clearly can hear the content of the sound (4.080(1)(b)). Chapter 6 has numbers for four kinds of source. (1) Leaf blowers: no single powered leaf blower may produce a noise level exceeding 70 dBA measured at a distance of 50 feet, and none may be operated within a 100-foot radius of another powered leaf blower at the same time; on a single-family residential property the 70 dBA limit does not apply to a blower operated for fewer than 10 minutes during any consecutive sixty minute period (6.750(e)). (2) Heat pumps, residential fans, air conditioners, stationary pumps, stationary cooling towers, stationary compressors and similar mechanical devices, alone or in combination: the maximum noise level may not exceed 60 dBA at any point on the property line of the affected residential property. The rule covers devices installed after a date that the codified text leaves as a bracketed placeholder, [the effective date of this ordinance] (6.750(f)). (3) Commercial and industrial noise sources (6.752, added in 2023): the limits are octave-band and impulse levels, not one dBA figure. Median octave band sound pressure levels, in dB, may not exceed the following from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. and from 10:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.: 68 and 65 at 31.5 Hz, 65 and 62 at 63 Hz, 61 and 56 at 125 Hz, 55 and 50 at 250 Hz, 52 and 46 at 500 Hz, 49 and 43 at 1000 Hz, 46 and 40 at 2000 Hz, 43 and 37 at 4000 Hz, and 40 and 34 at 8000 Hz (6.752(3)(a) and its table). A median one-third octave band level may not exceed the arithmetic average of the two adjacent bands by 5 dB (center frequency 500 to 10,000 Hertz), 8 dB (160 to 400 Hertz) or 15 dB (25 to 125 Hertz), provided it also exceeds each adjacent band (6.752(3)(b)); audible discrete tones 10 dB or more below the table level for their octave band are excluded (6.752(3)(c)). Impulse sound: blasting, 98 dBC, slow response, between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. and 93 dBC between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.; all other impulse sounds, 100 dB, peak response, between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. and 80 dB between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. (6.752(2)). Where it is measured (6.752(4)): on the noise sensitive property, meaning property within the Eugene city limits zoned for residential use, schools, churches, hospitals or public libraries, at whichever of two points is further from the source: 25 feet (7.6 meters) toward the source from the point on the noise sensitive building nearest to it, or the point on the noise sensitive property line nearest to it. The City uses the procedures in the Sound Measurement Procedures Manual (NPCS-1) or others administratively adopted by the city manager. (4) Uses in the Natural Resource (NR) zone and two overlay zones: section 6.750(h) makes a noise disturbance of any sound source exceeding the standards in section 9.2530(20), a land use standard, and not otherwise exempt from it. It covers sites that received a Wildlife Habitat Rating of greater than 60 in the Metropolitan Natural Resources Inventory and sites designated as high value wetlands. Noise generated by uses within the NR zone and the wetland buffer overlay zone, measured at the wetland boundary, and within the waterside protection overlay zone, measured at the top of the high bank, may not exceed a one-hour equivalent sound pressure level (Leq), A-weighted, of 57 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. and 50 from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. (9.2530(20)(a), (b)); the table that gives the two figures is headed "A-Weighted (dBa) Receiving Property Residential Broad Zone Category". For noises of short duration or impulsive character, such as hammering, the level permitted beyond the property of origin is seven decibels less (9.2530(20)(c)). For noises of unusual periodic character, such as humming, screeching and pure tones, median octave band levels may not be exceeded beyond the property of origin when the receiving property is in the NR zone; the figures are the same nine pairs as in the 6.752 table (9.2530(20)(d)). Section 9.2530(20)(e) has its own exemptions, among them construction site sounds confined to 7 a.m. through 7 p.m., lawn and plant care machinery with working sound suppression equipment operated between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m., and warning devices operated continuously for no more than 5 minutes.

What the ordinance actually says

§ 4.080(1)(a): "Noise disturbance means any sound which: 1. Injures or endangers the safety or health of a human; 2. Annoys or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensitivities; or 3. Endangers or injures personal or real property."

§ 4.080(1)(b): "Plainly audible means where the listener clearly can hear the content of the sound produced by the noise source. Sounds which may be clearly audible include, but are not limited to, musical rhythms, spoken words, vocal sounds, and engine noises."

§ 4.080(2): "It shall be unlawful for any person to intentionally or recklessly create or continue any noise disturbance."

§ 4.083(a): "Operating or permitting the use or operation of any device designed for sound production, amplification, or reproduction, including but not limited to a radio, drums and other musical instruments, phonograph, television set, tape recorder, loud speaker, or other similar device: (1) Between the hours of 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day so as to be plainly audible within any dwelling unit which is not the source of the sound; or (2) On public property or on a public right-of-way so as to be plainly audible fifty feet or more from such device, except as specifically authorized in writing by the city, county, state or federal government."

§ 4.083(b): "Keeping, or permitting the keeping of any animal or fowl otherwise permitted to be kept which, by any sound, cry or behavior causes vocal or other sounds on a sustained basis during a 15-minute period shall constitute a noise disturbance."

§ 4.081: "It shall be unlawful for any person responsible for a noise disturbance caused by electronically amplified sound or a gathering of five or more people to. (a) Fail within 30 minutes to eliminate or cease such noise disturbance after receiving a citation or other notice of a violation of this section or section 4.080 of this code, or (b) Intentionally or recklessly create the same or a similar noise disturbance within six months of having received a citation or other notice of a violation of this section or section 4.080 of this code."

§ 6.750(d): "Constructing (including excavating), demolishing, altering, or repairing any building, street, sidewalk, driveway, sewer or utility line between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day."

§ 6.750(e): "Operating any pile driver, steam shovel, pneumatic hammer, derrick, steam or electric hoist, leaf blower, or lawnmower between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. the following day. No single powered leaf blower shall produce a noise level exceeding 70dBA measured at a distance of 50 feet. No powered leaf blower shall be operated within a 100-foot radius of another powered leaf blower simultaneously."

§ 6.750(f): "Operating any heat pumps, residential fans, air conditioners, stationary pumps, stationary cooling towers, stationary compressors, or similar mechanical device or any combination thereof installed after [the effective date of this ordinance] so as to create any noise which would cause the maximum noise level to exceed 60 dBA at any point on the property line of the affected residential property."

§ 6.752(2): "No person owning or controlling an industrial or commercial noise source shall cause or permit the operation of that noise source if an impulsive sound is emitted in air by that source which exceeds the following sound pressure levels, as measured at an appropriate measurement point, as specified in subsection (4) of this section:"

§ 4.330: "Continuous annoyance. Permit any animal to cause annoyance, alarm or disturbance for more than 15 continuous minutes at any time of the day or night, be it repeated barking, whining, screeching, howling, braying or other like sounds which can be heard beyond the boundary of the owner's property."

§ 4.430: "No animal owner shall permit any animal to cause continuous annoyance."

Quoted verbatim from the official codified text (Eugene Code 4.080 to 4.084 and 6.750 to 6.755, with 4.330 and 4.430 for animals. Chapter 4 (Offenses), Advertising and Noise Making: 4.080 Noise Disturbance, Prohibited (amended by Ordinance No. 16299, enacted September 13, 1971; Ordinance No. 19274, enacted August 13, 1984; and Ordinance No. 19902, enacted February 17, 1993, effective March 19, 1993); 4.081 Noise Disturbance, Repetition and Failure to Cease (added by Ordinance No. 19902); 4.083 Noise Disturbance, Specific Prohibitions (added by Ordinance No. 16229, enacted September 13, 1971; last amended by Ordinance No. 20378, enacted February 26, 2007, effective April 4, 2007); 4.084 Noise Disturbance, Exemptions (added by Ordinance No. 17435, enacted July 28, 1975; last amended by Ordinance No. 20378). Animal Regulations: 4.330 Definitions (last amended by Ordinance No. 20659, enacted September 15, 2021, effective September 17, 2021) and 4.430 Continuous Annoyance (renumbered and amended by Ordinance No. 19461, enacted April 13, 1987). Morals and Public Conduct: 4.670 and 4.672 Unruly Gatherings (added by Ordinance No. 20504, enacted January 28, 2013, effective March 2, 2013; 4.670 amended by Ordinance No. 20532, enacted June 23, 2014, effective June 24, 2014). Penalties: 4.990 Specific (last amended by Ordinance 20689, enacted May 24, 2023, effective June 25, 2023), 4.995 General, 4.996 Administrative Civil Penalty (last amended by Ordinance No. 20591, enacted May 14, 2018, effective June 16, 2018). Chapter 6 (Environment and Health), Environmental Noise Disturbance: 6.750 Specific Prohibitions (adopted by Ordinance No. 20378, enacted February 26, 2007, effective April 4, 2007; amended by Ordinance No. 20680, enacted January 23, 2023, effective January 24, 2023); 6.752 Commercial and Industrial Noise (added by Ordinance No. 20680, enacted January 23, 2023); 6.755 Exemptions, Variances (adopted by Ordinance No. 20378; clerically corrected May 1, 2008; amended by Ordinance No. 20528, enacted May 14, 2014, effective June 23, 2014). Chapter 6 Penalties: 6.990 Specific (last amended by Ordinance No. 20614, enacted May 15, 2019, effective June 17, 2019), 6.992 General (added by Ordinance No. 19815, enacted December 2, 1991) and 6.995 Administrative Civil Penalty (added by Ordinance No. 19719, enacted October 8, 1990). Chapter 9 (Land Use): 9.2530(20), the Natural Resource zone noise standard that 6.750(h) points to (section amended by Ordinance No. 20528). Text read on eugene.municipal.codes, the City's code host, which states that the Eugene Code is current through Ordinance 20742, passed July 13, 2026.). Verified against the live code on 2026-11-09. Ordinances get amended — before acting on a specific provision, check the linked official code. This page is a plain-language summary, not legal advice.

How to file a noise complaint in Eugene

Call the Eugene Police Department non-emergency line, 541-682-5111, for amplified sound or music, noise from large gatherings and other noise disturbances; the City's Noise Rules page sends other kinds of noise to other offices. For lawn equipment, heat pumps, commercial, construction or industrial noise it names Code Compliance, 541-682-5819, or an online complaint. Code Compliance (Atrium Building, 99 W. 10th Ave, Ste 230) says nuisance and zoning complaints must be in writing, through its online form or by mail, e-mail, fax or in person, and asks you to say if you want the complaint kept confidential. Its Filing a Complaint page ranks noise as Priority 3, Medium, with a response goal of 10 days. For barking dogs the Noise Rules page gives Animal Services, 541-687-4060, in business hours and the police non-emergency line after hours. Animal Services says it must have an address, sends a Good Neighbor letter on a first complaint and needs a signed complaint by a witness to the noise before it can act: "We cannot take enforcement from an anonymous complaint." The Code Compliance page gives a different Animal Services number for barking, 541-682-5748; the Noise Rules page, the Animal Services page and its FAQ all give 541-687-4060. Penalties: creating or continuing a noise disturbance is punishable by a fine of up to $500 or up to 30 days in jail, or both (4.080, 4.990(1)). Where the noise is electronically amplified sound or a gathering of five or more people, failing to stop it within 30 minutes of a citation or other notice, or repeating it within six months, is punishable by a fine of up to $1,500 or up to 90 days in jail, or both (4.081, 4.990(1)). The city manager may also impose an administrative civil penalty under section 2.018 for violations of sections 4.083 through 4.084 and of 4.430 (4.996(7)). Permitting an animal to cause continuous annoyance (4.430) is not listed by name in 4.990, so it falls under the catch-all for the animal sections: a fine of not more than $250, half of which may be waived if the violator attends a violators school run by the animal regulation authority (4.990(2)(a), (e)). The Chapter 6 rules (construction, equipment, commercial and industrial noise) carry a lower fine: sections 6.750 and 6.752 are not named in the chapter's specific penalties (6.990), so the general penalty applies, a fine not to exceed $200 (6.992). The city manager may also impose an administrative civil penalty under section 2.018 for a violation of Chapter 6, on the violator and, where the violator does not own the building or property, on the owner as well; not paying it is grounds for withholding permits or licenses or for a stop work order (6.995). Sources: https://www.eugene-or.gov/5521/Noise-Rules, https://www.eugene-or.gov/388/Code-Compliance, https://www.eugene-or.gov/1617/Filing-a-Complaint, https://www.eugene-or.gov/1919/Animal-Services and https://www.eugene-or.gov/m/faq?cat=96.

Step by step, with what to log and what to expect after you file: how to file a noise complaint in Eugene. For the general playbook — documenting the problem, talking to a landlord or HOA, when 311 beats 911 — see the noise complaints guide.

Worth knowing

(1) Two chapters and three offices. Chapter 4 holds the general noise disturbance rule, sound equipment and animals; Chapter 6 holds what the code calls environmental noise: exhausts, idling, loading, construction, power equipment, heat pumps and commercial and industrial sources. The City's Noise Rules page sends the first group to police, barking to Animal Services and the Chapter 6 group to Code Compliance, which takes complaints only in writing. (2) State of mind matters: the general offense is to intentionally or recklessly create or continue a noise disturbance (4.080(2)). (3) Plainly audible has its own meaning here: the listener can clearly hear the content of the sound, such as musical rhythms, spoken words, vocal sounds and engine noises (4.080(1)(b)). (4) A second, heavier offense covers electronically amplified sound and gatherings of five or more people: not stopping within 30 minutes of a citation or other notice, or creating the same or a similar noise disturbance within six months of one, carries up to $1,500 or 90 days in jail against $500 or 30 days for the basic offense (4.081, 4.990(1)). (5) Unruly gatherings are a separate offense: a party where alcohol is served or consumed and any two or more listed behaviors occur, a noise disturbance being one of them (4.670). Organizing or hosting one carries a fine not to exceed $1,000 or community service, or both (4.672(1), 4.990(1)); a second conviction within a twelve-month period adds the response costs of police, fire and other emergency responders (4.672(3)); and after more than three unruly gatherings at the same private property in a twelve-month period the owner is liable for response costs (4.672(4)). It is an affirmative defense that the host contacted the police as soon as any of the listed violations occurred (4.672(2)). (6) Three different night starts: 7 p.m. for construction, 9 p.m. for lawnmowers, leaf blowers, pile drivers and similar machines, and 10 p.m. for sound equipment heard in another dwelling, idling engines and loading (4.083(a), 6.750(b) to (e)). (7) Leaf blowers have their own rules: 70 dBA at 50 feet, no two powered blowers within a 100-foot radius at once, and on a single-family residential property the 70 dBA limit is lifted for a blower operated for fewer than 10 minutes during any consecutive sixty minute period (6.750(e)). Leaf blowers and street sweepers cleaning parking lots and adjacent areas in commercial or employment and industrial zones are exempt from 6.750 (6.755(1)(l)). (8) Two barking rules overlap. The noise sections cover any animal or fowl making vocal or other sounds on a sustained basis during a 15-minute period (4.083(b)); the animal sections bar permitting an animal to cause annoyance for more than 15 continuous minutes, by sounds that can be heard beyond the boundary of the owner's property (4.330, 4.430). The City's Noise Rules page puts it as 15 minutes or more. (9) Alarms: warning devices are exempt, but burglar or fire alarms shall not operate continuously for more than fifteen minutes (4.084(a), 6.755(1)(b)). (10) Other exemptions from the Chapter 4 rules (4.084): emergency vehicles responding to or from an emergency or in pursuit; sounds under a variance from the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission or from the city manager or hearings official; sources regulated by federal law or whose regulation is preempted by state law; sounds that are not electronically amplified, created by athletic and entertainment events other than motor vehicle racing events or fireworks displays; electronically amplified announcements at athletic events other than motor vehicle racing events; horns reasonably required by traffic; and sounds specifically authorized under a permit or license issued by the city. Section 6.755(1) repeats these for the Chapter 6 rules and adds work to restore property to a safe condition after a public calamity, farm uses, and work by the city, county or state and their contractors to repair or maintain roads, water wells, water service lines, trees and landscape, as well as street sweeping, garbage removal and similar activities. (11) Variances: a person whose sound source does not comply with 6.750 may apply in writing to the city manager with a fee; the City notifies any recognized neighborhood association, posts notice at the source and gives copies to owners and occupants of properties within 300 feet; the decision is due within 14 days of a complete application, or 30 days if a public hearing is held (6.755(2)). (12) The commercial and industrial section was added by an emergency ordinance in January 2023, which gave as its reason "the serious impacts that existing, persistent and unregulated vibrations and low frequency sounds are presently having on Eugene residents" (Ordinance No. 20680, Section 4). It defines noise level in dBA but sets its limits in octave bands and impulse levels, with no overall dBA limit; its text points to a Table EC 6.752(5) while the table printed in the section is headed Table EC 6.752(3); and the exemptions and variances in 6.755 are written for section 6.750 and do not mention 6.752. (13) The heat pump rule applies to equipment installed after a date the codified text never fills in: it still reads [the effective date of this ordinance] (6.750(f)). The section's history line says 6.750 was adopted by Ordinance No. 20378, effective April 4, 2007. (14) The exhaust rule requires a muffler or other device that effectively prevents loud or explosive noises, with an exception for vehicles in vehicle spectator sports between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. where the activity is properly licensed by the city and consistent with its zoning ordinance (6.750(a)). (15) The fine depends on the chapter. A noise disturbance under Chapter 4 carries up to $500 or 30 days in jail (4.990(1)); a violation of the Chapter 6 rules, such as night construction or a leaf blower over 70 dBA, carries a fine not to exceed $200, with no jail term stated (6.992). Section 6.750 says its acts "are declared to be noise disturbances, as that term is defined in section 4.080 of this code", and both chapters allow an administrative civil penalty on top (4.996(7), 6.995). (16) One decibel standard sits in the land use chapter: 57 dBA by day and 50 dBA at night, averaged over one hour, for noise from uses in the Natural Resource zone and two overlay zones beside high value wetlands and rated wildlife habitat (9.2530(20)); section 6.750(h) makes exceeding it a noise disturbance.

Document it before you report it

Some of Eugene's limits are measured numbers, so a reading can help, and a dated log counts either way. Take a quick reading with the free online decibel meter — it runs in your browser and records nothing — and check how loud your block is on the Eugene noise map. For time-stamped measurement history you can show a landlord or code officer, the app keeps a log.