Push for harmonised policy to combat noise pollution

Date: 10/02/2000

By Simon Coss

IF the European Commission gets its way, the EU could be a much quieter place in ten years' time.

The institution is currently putting the finishing touches to a raft of planned laws aimed at significantly reducing the problem of noise pollution across the Union.

Key among these is a proposed framework directive which seeks to harmonise EU rules on noise produced by a wide variety of machinery ranging from hedge trimmers to chain-saws.

The planned legislation would require noise limits to be introduced for around half the products listed in the directive and require all of them to be labelled with information about the nuisance they can cause.

The proposals are designed to achieve a number of ambitious noise-reduction goals. Firstly, the Commission hopes it will be possible to get agreement on an EU-wide noise exposure limit, setting out clearly the maximum level of noise which anyone should have to endure.

The directive would also oblige Union governments to assess noise-exposure trends at local level using commonly-agreed models, exchange information on noise pollution, and create 'noise maps' which would clearly show areas suffering from excessive sonic nuisance.

Finally, EU governments would be required by law to inform their citizens about the problem of noise pollution and their rights when they have complaints.

The EU executive hopes that the new noise rules will be introduced in two phases. Firstly, it says, noise reduction targets should be set by local and regional governments, especially in areas which suffer from particularly high noise levels, such as the areas around motorways and airports.

This initial step would also allow the Union to compile commonly-agreed data which could then be used by the Commission to move to the second stage of its plan - drawing up a set of EU-wide noise limits.

But not everyone is happy with the Commission's planned approach.

The European lawn-mower industry, for example, argues that the noise-reduction targets the Commission would like to see imposed on its products are unfairly harsh and would require mower manufacturers to redesign many of their most popular models.

"Our main worry is that noise limits will be revised in such a way that they are difficult to follow," said Adrian Harris of the European Garden Machinery Federation.

Another prong of the Commission's attack on the sources of noise pollution has sparked furious protests from the US, and raised the threat of yet another transatlantic trade war.

Washington argues that the EU's plan to ban older aircraft fitted with noise-reducing 'hush-kits' from landing at Union airports because they are too noisy amounts to a restraint of trade.

US firm Pratt and Witney, one of the main producers of hush kits, argues that its products can make old aircraft a great deal quieter than many new EU-produced planes.

Article forms part of a survey 'Environment'.