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"With economic development and accelerated urbanization, noise pollution has become an increasingly prominent social concern and a significant bottleneck hindering the construction of ecological civilization and a beautiful China," said Pei Xiaofei, spokesperson for the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, at a regular press conference in August. She added that data from received complaints and reports show that noise pollution has become the most pressing environmental issue for the public.
Recently, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, together with 13 other ministries and agencies including the Central Commission for Guiding Cultural and Ethical Progress, released the "China Noise Pollution Prevention and Control Report (2024)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report"). This report has been published continuously since 2011, and this year marks its 13th edition.
What are the new changes in this year's report compared to previous years? What are the reasons for the increasing number of noise pollution complaints in my country year by year? How are various regions promoting solutions to noise problems "at the doorstep" of ordinary people?
In Dayang Town, Luyang District, Hefei City, Anhui Province, staff members conduct noise monitoring of residential areas and the surrounding environment.
The report has six new changes compared to previous years.
The report consists of eight parts: explanatory notes, national noise status, capacity building for noise pollution prevention and control, industrial noise pollution prevention and control, construction noise pollution prevention and control, transportation noise pollution prevention and control, social noise pollution prevention and control, and building a social governance framework.
Compared to previous years, this year's report shows six new changes:
In terms of highlighting the problem-oriented approach, the report adds an analysis of the current noise pollution situation in the opening explanatory notes, and adds a new section on the analysis of the causes of noise pollution as an independent subsection, summarizing the root causes of noise pollution from aspects such as economic development, land use, government management and public civility.
In terms of overall structure, the report has been simplified in terms of hierarchy and its chapters have been readjusted. The prevention and control of noise pollution from industry, construction, transportation and social life has been elevated to a separate chapter, making the hierarchy clearer and more prominent, and showcasing the treatment of the four types of noise sources in a concentrated manner.
In terms of readability, the number of popular science columns has increased from 6 to 11, with related photos added to aid reading. The number of illustrations has increased from 17 to 65, and the number of tables has increased from 6 to 13, which more intuitively demonstrates the effectiveness of noise pollution prevention and control.
Regarding key tasks, a new column titled "Key Tasks for Noise Pollution Prevention and Control in 2024" has been added. Using the report as a window, the column will publicize the key tasks for noise pollution prevention and control in 2024 to relevant management departments and the general public, clarify the work objectives, raise public awareness, and invite public supervision.
In terms of content length, due to the extensive work carried out by various regions on noise pollution prevention and control, and the abundance of materials on noise pollution prevention and control, the report has increased in length from 20,000 words last year to nearly 30,000 words this year.
Regarding the compiling units, the total number of units jointly publishing the report remains unchanged at 14, but the specific units have changed. The Ministry of Science and Technology is no longer jointly publishing the report, and the State Taxation Administration has been added as a new joint publisher.
The overall sound environment quality in cities across the country remains stable.
In recent years, noise pollution has gradually become a weak link in the quality of the ecological environment and the living environment in urban and rural areas.
The report shows that in 2023, the 12345 government service hotline in prefecture-level and above cities across the country, as well as departments such as ecology and environment, public security, and housing and urban-rural development, received a total of about 5.706 million noise complaints and reports, an increase of 1.203 million cases compared with the previous year.
In terms of complaint types, noise complaints from social life were the most numerous, accounting for 68.4%, an increase of 0.9 percentage points year-on-year; construction noise was the second most frequent, accounting for 24.1%, a decrease of 1.0 percentage point year-on-year; transportation noise accounted for 4.3%, and industrial noise accounted for 3.2%, basically unchanged year-on-year.
The number of noise complaints is closely related to population density. The report points out that the eight megacities of Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Tianjin, and Wuhan received a total of approximately 1.663 million noise complaints, accounting for about 30% of the total number of noise complaints in prefecture-level and above cities nationwide.
According to the National Ecological and Environmental Complaint and Reporting Management Platform (WeChat and online channels), more than 255,000 complaints and reports were received in 2023, an increase of 1,000 compared with the previous year. Noise pollution accounted for 61.3% of all ecological and environmental pollution complaints, ranking first among all environmental pollution factors.
Looking at the monthly distribution of noise complaints, January had the fewest complaints, while March, April, October, and November saw higher numbers. In terms of the time of day for receiving noise complaints, the period between 11 PM and 1 AM the following day saw the highest number of hourly noise complaints.
The report points out that there are three main reasons for the increasing number of noise complaints: First, with the rapid development of urban construction, population density has increased, the number of motor vehicles has increased, and industrial, commercial, and construction activities are frequent. In addition, residential areas are mixed with commercial and industrial functions, and residential buildings are too close to main traffic arteries, resulting in a prominent noise impact. Second, the division of responsibilities for noise pollution prevention and control among some local governments is unclear, resulting in management gaps and poor coordination. Third, there is insufficient publicity on noise pollution prevention and control, and the public's consensus on quietness needs to be strengthened.
Although the number of localized noise complaints increased, the overall sound environment quality in cities nationwide remained stable. In 2023, cities at the prefecture level and above across the country conducted monitoring and evaluation of the sound environment in functional zones in accordance with the "Environmental Quality Standard for Noise" (GB 3096-2008) and the "Technical Specification for Environmental Noise Monitoring: Routine Monitoring of Urban Sound Environment" (HJ 640-2012). Monitoring results showed that in 2023, the daytime compliance rate for sound environment functional zones nationwide was 96.1%, and the nighttime compliance rate was 87.0%. Compared with 2022, the daytime and nighttime compliance rates increased by 0.1 percentage points and 0.4 percentage points, respectively.
Looking at the acoustic environment functional zones from Class 1 to 4a, the daytime compliance rate ranged from 90.1% to 98.9%, and the nighttime compliance rate ranged from 70.1% to 95.6%. Class 3 functional zones (industrial and warehousing/logistics zones) had the highest daytime and nighttime compliance rates, while Class 4a functional zones (areas along main roads) and Class 1 functional zones (residential and educational zones) had lower nighttime compliance rates. Compared to 2022, the daytime compliance rate for Class 2 functional zones (commercial, financial, and market trade zones) increased by 0.7 percentage points, and the nighttime compliance rate increased by 0.9 percentage points. The daytime compliance rate for Class 3 functional zones remained unchanged, while the nighttime compliance rate increased by 1.0 percentage point. The daytime and nighttime compliance rates for all other functional zones decreased, with daytime decreases of 0.3 to 1.0 percentage points and nighttime decreases of 0.3 to 0.9 percentage points.
Let's look at the situation in municipalities, provincial capitals, and cities with independent planning status. In 2023, the daytime compliance rate for sound environment functional zones in these cities was 95.2%, and the nighttime compliance rate was 83.1%. Compared with 2022, the daytime and nighttime compliance rates decreased by 0.2 percentage points and 0.5 percentage points, respectively.
Among the functional zones classified as 1 to 4a, the compliance rate for both daytime and nighttime was highest in functional zone 3; the nighttime compliance rate was lower in functional zones 4a and 1. The daytime compliance rate for functional zone 2 increased by 0.9 percentage points, and the nighttime compliance rate for functional zone 3 increased by 1.3 percentage points. The compliance rates for all other functional zones decreased, with daytime rates decreasing by 0.7–1.9 percentage points and nighttime rates decreasing by 0.1–3.7 percentage points.
Positive results have been achieved in the classification and management of four types of noise sources.
To address the noise problems affecting people's neighborhoods and actively respond to public concerns, relevant ministries and governments at all levels carried out extensive work in 2023, achieving positive results in the classified management of four types of noise sources.
Regarding industrial noise control, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment issued the "Notice on Carrying Out Industrial Noise Discharge Permit Management," which has promoted 119,000 polluting units nationwide to include industrial noise in their discharge permits. Local governments have promoted the compilation of lists of key noise-discharging units, and in 2023, a total of 400 industrial enterprises nationwide were included in the list of key noise-discharging units. Industrial enterprises have been urged to fulfill their primary responsibility for noise pollution prevention and control, and to take proactive measures to reduce vibration and noise. For industrial enterprises that seriously disturb residents by exceeding noise emission standards, regulatory measures such as production stoppage, fines, time-limited rectification, and relocation have been taken.
Regarding the control of construction noise, relevant departments such as the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the State Administration for Market Regulation have compiled and released the "Guidance Catalogue of Low-Noise Construction Equipment (First Batch)," which includes 46 low-noise construction equipment in 6 categories, such as excavators, road rollers, and loaders, whose noise levels are better than the national standards. This provides guidance for construction companies to select low-noise construction equipment and for manufacturers to carry out equipment noise reduction. Nighttime construction noise management has been strengthened, and construction permits have been issued to construction sites with continuous nighttime construction approximately 142,000 times.
In terms of noise control in transportation, 334 new systems for capturing illegal honking of motor vehicles were installed, and approximately 46 million square meters of low-noise road surfaces were newly laid. Sound barriers and ecological isolation belts were installed to protect transmission pathways, and soundproof windows and other building protection measures were installed to reduce noise pollution around highways, urban roads, rail transit, railways, and airports. A special campaign was launched to crack down on illegal street racing, resulting in the investigation of 74,000 cases and the dismantling of 297 street racing gangs. Flight noise reduction technology was optimized and promoted to reduce the impact of aviation noise on areas surrounding airports. Noise supervision of inland waterway vessels was strengthened, and the use of clean energy for inland waterway vessels was promoted, along with the use of shore power by vessels at port.
In terms of noise control in social life, a joint special campaign involving multiple departments was launched to jointly promote the supervision of noise pollution from business premises; civilized entertainment and fitness were promoted to raise residents' awareness of noise self-management and to promote the resolution of noise pollution problems in public places. More than 700 sets of automatic noise monitoring equipment and display screens were installed in public places; pilot projects for quiet communities were carried out, and 204 new quiet communities were built. As of the end of 2023, 1,529 quiet communities (including quiet residential communities) had been built.
Preventing and controlling noise pollution is not only a trivial matter concerning daily life, but also a major issue concerning the vital interests of the people. To thoroughly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instruction to "return tranquility, harmony, and beauty to nature," and to implement the decisions and plans of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on ecological civilization construction and ecological environmental protection, all parts of the country have continuously increased their efforts in noise pollution prevention and control, continuously promoted the improvement of the sound environment quality during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, strived to solve prominent noise problems of concern to the people, and continuously enhanced the people's sense of gain, happiness, and security regarding the ecological environment.
This article is forwarded from: Environmental Economics Magazine