Noise Emission in the Environment Directive - 2000/14/EC

Background

he European Commission has identified noise as one of the most pressing problems in urban areas across Europe and stressed the need to take action on various sources of noise, as part of its environmental action plan in 1993. The subsequent ‘future noise policy’ sets out steps for the development of a directive to specifically regulate noise created by outdoor equipment.

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Outdoor Noise Directive (ODN) 

• The Outdoor Noise Directive 2000/14/EC (OND) regulates the noise emissions into the environment by outdoor equipment.

• Some 57 types of equipment are named in the directive. It refers mainly to outdoor machinery, such as those used on construction sites or in parks and gardens.

• Almost all of the 57 types of equipment are also within the scope of the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC and both directives address issues arising from noise emissions. However, the machinery directive focuses on the occupational safety of the operator (amongst other things) and the OND on the overall environmental effects.

• Following Directive 2000/14/EC, manufacturers are legally obliged to produce an EC declaration of conformity (DoC) with equipment - which states that the equipment conforms with the provisions of this directive, as well as any other relevant directives.

• The European Commission services has developed an electronic form for EC declaration of conformity called ‘NOISE’, which is an online tool for manufacturers, authorized representatives, EU countries and notified bodies to send and manage DoCs.

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Reference:

[1] ec.europa