Environmental noise

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As environmental noise are noise impact of the sound sources road , rail , air traffic and industry designated. The term was newly introduced by Directive 2002/49 / EC (Environmental Noise Directive) and defined throughout Europe. Under the definitions in Art. 3, the guideline summarizes as environmental noise all "undesirable or unhealthy noises in the open air caused by human activities, including noise from means of transport, road traffic, rail traffic, air traffic and areas for industrial activities".

Environmental Noise Directive

The aim of the Environmental Noise Directive is to create noise maps and, on this basis , to draw up action plans for noise protection . For this purpose - based on the respective sound source - the strength of the effect should be calculated or measured and displayed in 5 dB increments. The EC directive allows both calculations and measurements. Measures for improvement are to be developed in the form of action plans. The mapping and the measures are to be reviewed and revised at least every five years. The mandatory information and participation of the public is also new.

The deadline of June 30, 2005 set out in Article 7, Paragraph 1, Clause 2, by which the member states “the main roads with a traffic volume of over six million vehicles per year, the main railway lines with a traffic volume of over 60,000 trains per year, was considered decisive. major airports and metropolitan areas with more than 250,000 inhabitants on their territory ”should notify the European Commission.

Lower values ​​have been in effect since December 31, 2008 - e.g. B. 100,000 inhabitants for metropolitan areas, so that the scope of the data to be reported has increased considerably. On October 26th 2009 the European Environment Agency (EEA) published the first comprehensive noise map of Europe.

Germany

In 2005 and 2006 the Federal Government created the legal basis for the implementation of the Environmental Noise Directive with §§ 47 a – f of the Federal Immission Control Act (BImschG) and the Ordinance on Noise Mapping (34th BImSchV). In contrast to other European countries, the legislature in Germany has not provided for measurements. New calculation rules have been issued that differ from the previous ones. This often leads to confusion in the public, because the traffic authorities z. For example, when building roads, use the old RLS-90 regulation, but the VBUS calculation regulation is used in the noise mapping.

"Ambient noise" refers to Section 47b No. 1 BImschG "annoying or unhealthy noises in the open air caused by human activities, including noise emanating from means of transport, road traffic, rail traffic, air traffic and areas for industrial activities." In contrast to other countries, there is noise that is caused by the person affected by it himself or by activities within apartments, neighborhood noise, noise at work, in means of transport or noise that can be traced back to military activities in military areas is not recorded as environmental noise ( Section 47a sentence 2 BImschG).

As early as 1990, due to the old version of the BImschG, there was a legal obligation in Germany to draw up so-called noise reduction plans. Many cities and municipalities had not fulfilled this obligation. The aim of the Environmental Noise Directive was to attempt to achieve this goal through binding Europe-wide regulation.

In Germany, the obligation to map the noise lies with the municipalities or the authorities responsible under state law, unless the federal railways are concerned: the spread of noise is mapped by the Federal Railway Authority ; the results can be seen on a map on the Internet. The most heavily used federal railway lines are in Munich (around 330,000 trains per year) and in Berlin (around 250,000 trains per year).

The mapping results must be communicated to the public and the EU. The public should be involved, in particular to provide information about the noise problems. The Environmental Noise Directive has a democratic approach in that it aims to involve citizens in drawing up the action plans for noise reduction. How this participation should look in detail is left to the federal states, cities and municipalities.

So-called action plans for noise reduction should be completed by July 18, 2008. This task is the responsibility of the municipalities. Since no noise maps of the federally owned railway lines were available at this time, the action plans could only deal with some of the noise problems. Some cities such as Bremen and Hamburg began drawing up action plans in good time. However, the action plan for Hamburg in the version of November 24, 2008 was only referred to as the “Strategic Noise Action Plan” and was revised until 2012, when the second stage of noise mapping had to be carried out. A total of 27 metropolitan areas (more than 250,000 inhabitants) were reported by the federal states. 17,000 km of main roads, 4,400 km of main railway lines and 9 major airports were mapped. In the second stage of the noise mapping, the number of metropolitan areas was significantly larger because the limit was reduced to 100,000 inhabitants. The now widespread possibilities of the Internet were the reason for many cities to offer citizens an opportunity to participate via this medium.

There is currently no legal requirement in Germany as to when an action plan for noise reduction should be drawn up. However, there are voluntary noise abatement programs run by Deutsche Bahn and the federal road administration.

Austria

Noise sources in the workplace, on public transport or in neighborhood noise are excluded from ambient noise.

The individual noise sources are mapped according to the polluter pays principle. The federal government is responsible for the federal highways and the respective federal state for the state highways. The federal government has commissioned the Autobahn and Schnellstraßen Finanz-AG (ASFINAG) to map the nationwide road network; For the noise protection renovation alone, 30 to 50 million euros are planned annually. A value of 50 dB at night (10 p.m. - 6 a.m.) and 60 dB as the total noise index (24 hours) were set as the threshold value for roads, 60 dB at night and 70 dB as the total noise index for rails.

With regard to action planning, Austria is pursuing very ambitious goals compared to other EU member states, with the authority responsible for the noise source planning the individual measures. The compilation of the 2008 action plans creates a coherent and uniform picture, as there is an action plan for each federal state. The Internet is being used more and more for public participation.

France

France only compiled the relevant data after the date set by the EU. A total of 24 metropolitan areas were reported, with Paris being the largest with 9.6 million inhabitants. An explanatory letter to the European Commission was not published.

United Kingdom

Great Britain delivered the relevant data on June 29, 2005 - one day before the date set by the EU. A total of 28 metropolitan areas were reported, with London being the largest with 8.3 million inhabitants. The majority of the metropolitan areas are in England , in Scotland and Wales there are two each, in Northern Ireland only the capital Belfast . In its letter to the European Commission, the British environmental authority pointed out that the reported data would change due to population trends and movements by the next date, namely the noise mapping in 2007.

Infringement Procedure

In 2016, the German government responded to a request from the Bundestag parliamentary group of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen that the environmental noise directive was the subject of one of 14 infringement proceedings that were currently being examined. The EU Commission had found several shortcomings in the implementation on September 29 2016th The infringement procedure was officially launched a year later on the grounds that many action plans to reduce noise were still missing. In Germany, a large number of municipalities had not drawn up any noise action plans or had not delivered them on time. In addition to the infringement proceedings against the Federal Republic of Germany , the EU Commission has also initiated corresponding proceedings against Spain , Slovenia , Hungary and Slovakia.

European comparison

In Belgium , Finland , France, Greece , Ireland , Italy , Liechtenstein , Luxembourg , Austria , Portugal , the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom (Great Britain), the directive was not transposed into national law on time, which the European Commission has responded to since July 2005 Initiated steps.

A comparison of the situation in metropolitan areas within a European framework is informative. It is doubtful whether the German requirement of only calculating the noise will prevail at the European level. At the moment, a majority seems to be developing in favor of measurements. Measurements are technically feasible nowadays, especially in metropolitan areas (large cities). In contrast to calculations, measurements would always be up-to-date and could capture the overall situation.

criticism

As part of the noise action planning, some problems arose during implementation in the first stage.

An important finding from the multitude of laws and ordinances remains for the citizens concerned: A legal claim has so far only resulted from the Environmental Noise Directive with regard to information. The previous law continues to apply to all binding noise protection measures - at least in Germany. At least from a German point of view it can be said: “With the European Environmental Noise Directive, new hopes have been awakened among people plagued by noise. Politicians are calling for a comprehensive assessment of road and rail traffic noise, but implementation is difficult. "

Given the fact that many affected cities and municipalities are highly indebted, it is left to politicians to decide which measures are taken to reduce exposure to noise. In the end, it no longer matters for the individual citizen whether the basis of this decision is based on measurements or calculations.

A comparison at the European level is made difficult by the fact that the quality of the data is very different. While in some cities (e.g. London and Berlin) corresponding noise maps had already been created before the Environmental Noise Directive came into force, in some other places the technical prerequisites for processing the data to be determined were still lacking.

In addition, there are the different calculation methods both in Germany and in Europe.

swell

  • Directive 2002/49 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 25, 2002 on the assessment and control of environmental noise
  • Law for the implementation of the EC directive on the assessment and control of environmental noise of June 24, 2005
  • Thirty-fourth ordinance for the implementation of the Federal Immission Control Act ( Ordinance on Noise Mapping - 34th BImSchV) of March 6, 2006
  • Preliminary calculation method for environmental noise on railways (VBUSch) from May 22, 2006
  • Preliminary calculation method for environmental noise on roads (VBUS) from May 22, 2006
  • Preliminary calculation method for ambient noise at airports (VBUF) from May 22, 2006
  • Preliminary calculation method for environmental noise from industry and commerce (VBUI) from May 22, 2006
  • Preliminary calculation method for determining the number of people exposed to environmental noise (VBEB) from February 9, 2007

Web links

Germany
Austria

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ OJ. EC No. L 189/12 of July 18, 2002
  2. ↑ cf. Ministry of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Areas of the State of Schleswig-Holstein : Guidelines for drawing up action plans to implement the Environmental Noise Directive (no year)
  3. ↑ Directive 2002/49 / EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 25, 2002 on the assessment and control of environmental noise
  4. ^ Press release from the European Environment Agency
  5. ↑ Federal Gazette of August 17, 2006 Announcement of the preliminary calculation procedure for environmental noise in accordance with Section 5, Paragraph 1 of the Noise Mapping Ordinance (34th BImSchV) of May 22, 2006
  6. ↑ Website of the Federal Railway Authority on the Environmental Noise Directive ( Memento of the original from February 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.eba.bund.de
  7. ^ Frank M. Rauch: Noise reduction using the example of an action plan of the city of Bremen. DAGA , 38th Annual Acoustics Conference, 2012, accessed October 10, 2018 .
  8. ↑ http://www.hamburg.de/laermaktionsplan , according to the version from May 2, 2013
  9. ↑ Umweltbundesamt (Austria): Aim of the Environmental Noise Directive . Retrieved September 19, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.laerminfo.at
  11. ^ Journal of Environmental Law , Issue 1/2017, pages 54–55
  12. ↑ Announcement of the Deutscher Naturschutzring e. V. of October 5, 2017: Germany violates the EU noise directive
  13. ↑ Eckhart Heinrichs and Matthias Hintzsche: Local authorities have a duty , February 7, 2017, online portal of the magazine "der gemeinderat"
  14. ↑ Report on the experiences from the implementation of the first phase of noise mapping and action planning compiled by the ad hoc working group “Implementation experiences with noise reduction planning” ( Memento of the original from July 9, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.umweltbundesamt.de
  15. ↑ Noise protection in the tension triangle: Affected by law and politics , by Frank M. Rauch, magazine Immissionsschutz, issue 2/2015, page 72 ff.