Environmental noise pollution prevention and control

According to The 2020 Report on Environmental Noise Pollution Prevention and Control in China issued by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the state of China's acoustic environment is roughly as follows:

Overall situation

In 2019, regional daytime acoustic environment of 321 APL cities has been monitored, and the average equivalent sound level was 54.3 dB(A). The acoustic environment of traffic noise of 322 APL cities had been monitored in the daytime, and the average equivalent sound level was 66.8 dB(A). The acoustic environment of urban functional zones of 311 APL cities has been monitored, the daytime attainment rate of which was 92.4 percent, and the nighttime attainment rate was 74.4 percent.

Compared with 2018, in 2019, the proportion of cities met Grade I daytime environmental noise standard across the country decreased by 1.5 percentage points, the proportion of cities met Grade II standard increased by 3.5 percentage points, the proportion of cities met Grade III standard fell by 2.0 percentage points, and the proportion of cities met Grade IV standard rose by 0.7 percentage points, and the proportion of cities met Grade V standard fell by 0.6 percentage points.

Various measures of noise pollution prevention

1. Industrial noise pollution prevention

Supervise and urge enterprises to adopt noise control measures, and manage a number of enterprises with serious noise pollution.

Strictly control the construction by enterprises that produce serious noise pollution in areas with a cluster of buildings and an acute sensitivity to sound, and take measures such as suspension of production, fines, treatment within a time limit, and relocation for industrial enterprises that emit excessive noise and cause public disturbance.

2. Construction noise pollution prevention

Improve the rules and regulations and guide the prevention and control of construction noise pollution. Before the start of the construction, a declaration must be made to comply with a management system according to law. During the construction, strictly implement noise pollution prevention and control measures, and urge the construction unit to give priority to the selection of low-noise technology and mechanical equipment.

Strictly implement the approval system for night-time construction and control the construction time.

Strengthen supervision through installation of video surveillance and automatic noise monitoring systems, and through the joint forces of law enforcement severely crack down on the illegal behavior of construction noise that causes public disturbance.

3. Prevention and control of transportation noise pollution

Carry out noise inspection for newly produced motor vehicles. In 2019, a total of 25,160 motor vehicle shops across the country passed the noise inspection and met the national motor vehicle noise standards.

Take measures such as setting up sound barriers, installing sound insulation windows, building ecological isolation belts, implementing restrictive management of freight vehicles, eliminating unqualified and expired vehicles, setting up no-noise zones, speed-limit zones, and reasonable distribution of traffic flow on various arterial roads. Reduce street traffic noise pollution.

Take low-noise, low-vibration vehicles, tracks, equipment (implementation) and other preventive measures, install sound barriers and other transmission path control measures, including sound insulation windows and other measures of architectural protection to reduce noise pollution caused by urban rail transit.

By formulating and revising measures for restricting whistling of railway locomotives in urban areas, the impact of the resultant noise is reduced.

Strengthen the planning and utilization of the land around the new (expanded) airport, and delimit the area around the clearance of aircraft taking off and landing to restrict the construction of noise-sensitive buildings. Technical measures and management measures such as low-noise flight procedures, optimization of take-off and landing runways, restrictions on the number of flights and time periods, restrictions on the operation of high-noise aircraft, optimization of bird repellent sound devices, and sound insulation and noise reduction in surrounding noise-sensitive buildings are recommended to reduce the influence of aircraft noise on surrounding areas.

4. Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution in Social Life

Improve rules and regulations to provide legal guarantees for the prevention and control of noise pollution in social life.

Local ecological and environmental authorities strengthen coordination and cooperation with relevant departments such as urban management, public security, market supervision, culture, housing construction, and gardens to jointly promote the prevention and control of noise pollution in social life.

Strengthen the daily inspection and management of shops, and prohibit the use of loud sounds in business promotion. Solve the hot issues of social life noise complaints such as bars, KTVs, night markets, parks, etc.

Environmental noise related scientific research

In 2019, ecological environment departments at all levels organized or undertook 28 scientific research projects related to environmental noise pollution prevention and control, with a total funding of more than 26.48 million yuan. The research involved noise pollution prevention and control regulations and policies, acoustic environment function zone division and adjustment, noise mapping and application , construction of automatic noise monitoring systems, construction of environmental noise pollution prevention and control systems, and the study of the subjective experience of annoyance in acoustic environments.

Environmental noise related industries

In 2019, the total output value of the national noise and vibration pollution prevention and control industry was about 12.8 billion yuan, of which the output value of traffic noise and vibration pollution prevention and control was 5 billion yuan, the output value of noise and vibration pollution prevention and control of industrial enterprises was 1.6 billion yuan, the output value of the noise and vibration of social life pollution prevention and control was 2 billion yuan, the output value of noise and vibration pollution prevention and control technology services was 800 million yuan, and the output value of other noise and vibration pollution prevention and control was 3.4 billion yuan.

The total output value of the national noise and vibration control industry in 2020 was about 12 billion yuan, of which the product equipment output value was about 5.5 billion yuan, and the engineering and other output value wa about 6.5 billion yuan. There were 4,226 companies registered and established in 2020 that included the noise and vibration control business, an increase of about 1,347 over 2019, or about 31.8 percent; the total number of companies engaged in noise and vibration control related industries and engineering technical services was about 700. There were about 6,500 professional and technical personnel, and about 20,000 other employees; there were more than 30 companies engaged in noise and vibration control related industries with an annual output value of more than 100 million yuan, and more than 110 companies with a main business income of more than 20 million yuan.

In 2021, the hot market demand of China's noise and vibration control industry will still be concentrated in the aspects of noise reduction, sound insulation and vibration isolation in high-speed railways, urban rail transit and other fields. The demands of distributed energy, petrochemicals, mining, metallurgy and building materials in the industrial field remain stable. In 2021, it is expected that the number of enterprises engaged in noise and vibration control related industries and engineering technical services will remain at about 700, with a total of about 30,000 employees. The total output value of the industry is expected to rebound from 2020.