Permits for noise from industry in the Netherlands, 1997-2002

Progress made (1997-2002) with the amendment required by law to the noise section of environmental permits for companies, by province. This amendment of the environmental permits, which is part of the 'Remediation of noise from industry' operation, was due for completion on 1 January 2000.

Numbers of amended permits for noise from industry

On 1 January 2002, 68% of the permits had been amended. However, the limit for the amendment of the permits - 1 January 2000 - was already in the past.
There are considerable differences between provincial authorities in terms of the amendment of permits. The leaders are Friesland, Drenthe, Utrecht and Zeeland. Overijssel and Flevoland bring up the rear, with only one third of the permits having been amended.

Policy: 'Remediation of noise from industry' project

On the basis of the Noise Abatement Act, an amendment is required to the noise section of the environmental permits issued to companies. This amendment of the environmental permits, which is part of the 'Remediation of noise from industry' operation, was due for completion on 1 January 2000.

The Association of Provincial Authorities (IPO) and the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment drew up a covenant in 1994 covering the remediation of noise from industry on the basis of the Noise Abatement Act. This covenant decentralised tasks and financial resources. The provincial authorities were given the central role in the implementation of the remediation activities. For the purposes of implementing the covenant, the Association of Provincial Authorities launched the Remediation of Noise from Industry Project. More than 45.5 million euros were allocated to the provinces over a period of ten years for this purpose, with more than 13 million being intended for acoustic studies and more than 31 million for remediation measures.

Technical note

In the context of the monitoring and evaluation of government performance, the IPO questions all provincial authorities annually about their environment policy.
Monitoring government performance

References

• IPO (2002). Interprovinciale rapportage Milieu, Water, Landbouw en Natuur 2002. Association of Provincial Authorities, Lelystad. This report contains an extensive set of provincial data about the environment, water, nature and agriculture for the year 2001.

Relevant sections and indicators in the Environmental Data Compendium

• Monitoring government performance
• Remediation of noise from industry in the Netherlands, 1997-2002
• Noise exposure in the Netherlands: orders authorising higher limit values by province, 1997-2001
• Noise exposure in the Netherlands: orders authorising higher limit values by source, 2001
• Environmental complaints about companies in the Netherlands, 2001
• Noise nuisance in the Netherlands by source, 1990-2002
• Noise nuisance: severe nuisance, 1993 and 1998