Unit 6: Current Legislation Affecting UK Industry: Atmosphere |
6.2.15 Noise and Statutory Nuisance In the UK, noise contains the largest amount of statute legislation. The legal controls here can be split into:
1. Pollution legislation The main controls here are Part III of EPA 1990: Statutory Nuisances and Clean Air, and the parts of the Control of Pollution Act (COPA) 1974 (mainly sections 60-73 of Part III) which have not currently been repealed by equal provisions in EPA 1990. The Noise and Statutory Nuisance Act 1993 also controls noise emanating from the street, intruder alarms and loudspeakers and empowers local authorities to recover costs through statutory nuisance abatement. COPA 1974 has the following main provisions covering noise:
Under section 60 of COPA 1974, local authorities are given the power to control noise and vibration. They may do this through serving a notice to the person in charge of the site, who will be required to adhere to controls such as the type of machinery and plant used, the hours during which it may operate, the boundary noise levels, in order to decrease the noise through the adoption of BPM. Prior consent can be sought where a contractor is planning future demolition or construction work that may incur a notice, under section 61 of COPA 1974, in order that they may protect themselves against local authority (but not private individual) action, on the premise that BPM can be demonstrated to reduce noise. Noise abatement zones Sections 63-67 of COPA 1974 cover the establishment of NAZs to:
These give best practice guidance on issues such as measurement techniques for noise and the BPM in its abatement. British standard BS5228 deals with noise control on construction and open sites. Other similar codes of practice deal with other noises such as that emitted from ice cream vans, intruder alarms etc. Individuals are not legally bound by such noise although local authorities could use them in showing that the BPM is not being adhered to. Noise control regulations Section 68 of COPA 1974 deals with regulations established under the European Communities Act 1972, and are:
2. Planning legislation The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 is the main piece of legislation in dealing with noise during the planning process. Some planning policy guidance notes have been published for guidance on noise controls:
3. Health and safety legislation Noise can also be prejudicial to health. There is a great deal of health and safety legislation that has been developed within then UK which includes many provisions for protection of people against noise. This goes beyond the scope of this module and you should read around this subject- such as in Croner's health and safety publications. Further Reading Consult the Summary of relevant legislation for noise. |