Noise from places
such as industrial, commercial, trade or business
premises is controlled by means of Noise Abatement
Notices which may be served on owners or occupiers
of premises if the noise emitted:
not comply with objective technical criteria
in the form of Acceptable Noise Levels as
set out in the Technical Memorandum for
the Assessment of Noise from Places other
than Domestic Premises, Public Places or
Construction Sites;
a source of annoyance to any person (other
than a person in the place from which the
noise is emanating) in any place considered
to be a noise sensitive receiver in the
Technical Memorandum mentioned in paragraph
(a); or
not comply with any standard or limit contained
in any Regulations which may be made in
future.
A Noise Abatement Notice may require the owner or occupier to bring his noise emissions into a state of compliance by certain date and non-compliance with such a Notice will be an offence. Details of the appeal mechanism will be covered later. For an immediate access to details of the appeal mechanism, please click
here
.
It should be noted that there is no requirement for industry in general to achieve the Acceptable Noise Levels (ANL) immediately, but to bring the noise level to or below the ANL by the date specified on the Noise Abatement Notice. The EPD will, in practice, respond to complaints lodged by members of the public and compliance with the Acceptable Noise Levels will be required only after a Noise Abatement Notice has been served.
Intruder alarm systems for premises such as shops can be equally annoying.
Under the provisions in section 13A and 13B of the NCO, intruder alarm system installed in any premises and vehicle shall not sound for more than 15 minutes and 5 minutes respectively after being triggered. In addition, the vehicle alarms shall not sound unless the vehicles are being tampered with. The controllers or registered owners have to ensure their Intruder Alarm Systems comply with the requirements.
Control of Noisy Products (sections 14 to 17)
Sections 14 to 17 of the NCO stipulates that it is an offence to manufacture, import, sell or hire a prescribed product if it is intended for use in Hong Kong and does not comply with noise standards set out in the Regulations. It will also be an offence to use such a product.
At present, the Noise Control (Hand Held Percussive Breakers) Regulations and the Noise Control (Air Compressors) Regulations stipulate that only the handheld breakers and air compressors complying with the noise emission standards shall be allowed to be imported, manufactured or supplied for use in Hong Kong and be attached with a Noise Emission Label before its usage.
An application for such a label must be made to EPD in the prescribed form and accompanied by a cheque of the prescribed fee. A Noise Emission Label will be issued if EPD is satisfied that the relevant noise emission standard has been complied with. This would in effect phase out the particularly noisy equipment items and minimize the noise disturbances emanated from the work sites.
The following photographs show two Noise Emission Labels: one for a hand-held pneumatic breaker and one for an air-compressor:
Noise Emission
from motor vehicles including motor cycles
is under control and has to meet specific
noise emission standards for registration
purpose.
The provisions in the Noise Control (Motor
Vehicles) Regulation, made under section
27 of the Ordinance, deal with the control
of mechanical noise emanating from motor
vehicles. The Government will continue to tighten the emission standard in step with other developed countries such as the European Union.
Appeals
(sections 18 to 23)
The Ordinance
provides for a statutory right of appeal
in respect of certain decisions or requirements
of the Authority to ensure that the provisions
of the Ordinance are applied in a fair and
reasonable manner. An appeal may be lodged
against any decision or requirement of the
Authority relating to:
The Appeal
Board may confirm, reverse or vary the decision
or requirement of the Authority and may
also make an award of costs involved in
the appeal as appropriate. In the case of
appeals against Noise Abatement Notices,
the Notice to which the appeal relates will
normally be suspended in its operation until
such time as the appeal is disposed of.
The Chairman of the Appeal Board and the persons of the panel are appointed by Chief executive of HKSAR. Under the Noise Control Ordinance, the Appeal Board shall, however, not at any time consist of a majority of persons who are public officers.
Any person
who commits an offence under the Ordinance
shall be liable to the following maximum
penalties: