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Infralyd og lavfrekvent støj i det eksterne miljø

Summary and conclusions

International administrative practices regarding environmental low-frequency noise have been the object of this investigation. The handling procedures for complaints employed by the environmental authorities in 9 European and 3 overseas countries have been reviewed. Approximately half of the investigated countries have some kind of guidelines and noise limits for low-frequency noise, varying from relatively simple requirements for outdoor noise levels, to more detailed guidelines regarding measurement and evaluation of, and limit values for, indoor low-frequency noise.

Denmark, Holland, Sweden, Germany and Austria, have the most detailed guidelines of the 12 countries. It is the impression, based on this investigation, that the guidelines are being enforced most intensively in Holland, Denmark, and Sweden. In some countries (e.g. USA) the available technical standards and methods are often not used for enforcement, as these are not related to the administrative regulations.

The local environmental authorities enforce the existing guidelines for low-frequency noise, and central registration of complaints is done only in very few cases. The available, rather uncertain information, indicates that the yearly complaint rate in Denmark, England, Germany and Austria is between 1 and 10 per 1 million inhabitants. Sweden has a considerably higher complaint rate. This may be caused by the fact, that the Swedish environmental authorities also handle complaints over technical installations located at private neighbourhoods.

A recent Dutch investigation estimates that up to 15% of the inhabitants are annoyed by low-frequency noise including low-frequency noise from neighbours. This indicates that annoyance caused by low-frequency noise may be a relatively common problem, but as shown above, only relatively few people actually complain to the authorities. A reason for this may be that the environmental authorities in most countries can not handle complaints of low-frequency noise from private neighbours.

Abatement orders are the most common administrative tool in case of legitimated complaints. However in England and Sweden, the authorities prefer to solve the noise problems causing complaints by setting up negotiations between the involved parties, and by giving advice regarding noise reduction. In most countries decisions issued by local authorities may be appealed to a higher administrative level, however in some countries (e.g. USA), the court system is used as the appeal authority.

The legal basis of guidelines and regulations for low-frequency noise often are the environmental laws. In some countries (e.g. Austria), the guidelines are based on laws related to the specific noise sources, e.g. industry. In Sweden, the health legislation plays a major role in the new environmental law, comprising the former environmental and health laws.

This investigation did not reveal a predominant typical source of low-frequency noise. Complaints are caused by several sources, such as industry, traffic and music. In most cases (generally more than 90%) the noise source causing the complaints is actually identified. In Denmark however, EPA estimates that a major part of the recent complaints is caused by unidentified sources.

A comparison between the four most detailed evaluation methods, based on a sample of realistic low-frequency noise examples, indicates that the Danish evaluation method under the given prerequisites does not seem to differ significantly from the other comparable methods in any systematic way.