The Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution, which was adopted at the 32nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on December 24, 2021, is hereby promulgated and will come into force as of June 5, 2022.


Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China


December 24, 2021


Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution


(Adopted at the 32nd Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress on December 24, 2021)


catalogue


Chapter I General Provisions


Chapter II Standards and Plans for the Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution


Chapter III Supervision and Administration of Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution


Chapter IV Prevention and Control of Industrial Noise Pollution


Chapter V Prevention and Control of Construction Noise Pollution


Chapter VI Prevention and Control of Traffic Noise Pollution


Chapter VII Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution in Social Life


Chapter VIII Legal Liability


Chapter IX Supplementary Provisions


Chapter I General Provisions


Article 1 This Law is formulated for the purpose of preventing and controlling noise pollution, ensuring public health, protecting and improving the living environment, maintaining social harmony, promoting the construction of ecological civilization, and promoting the sustainable development of economy and society.


Article 2 The term "noise" as used in this Law refers to the sound that is produced in the course of industrial production, construction, transportation and social life and that impairs the living environment of the neighbourhood.


The term "noise pollution" as used in this Law refers to the phenomenon that noise is produced in excess of the noise emission standards or without taking preventive and control measures according to law, and interferes with the normal life, work and study of others.


Article 3 This Law shall apply to the prevention and control of noise pollution.


The prevention and control of noise hazards caused by the production and operation of their own duties shall be governed by the provisions of labor protection and other relevant laws.


Article 4 The prevention and control of noise pollution shall adhere to the principles of overall planning, prevention and control at the source, classified management, joint treatment by the society and responsibility for damage.


Article 5 People's governments at or above the county level shall incorporate the prevention and control of noise pollution into the national economic and social development plans and the ecological environment protection plans, and incorporate the funds for the prevention and control of noise pollution into the budgets of the governments at the corresponding levels.


The ecological environment protection plan shall specify the objectives, tasks, safeguard measures and other contents of noise pollution prevention and control.


Article 6 Local people's governments at all levels shall be responsible for the quality of the acoustic environment in their respective administrative areas and take effective measures to improve the quality of the acoustic environment.


The State implements the responsibility system of noise pollution prevention and control objectives and the assessment and evaluation system, and incorporates the completion of noise pollution prevention and control objectives into the assessment and evaluation content.


Article 7 The local people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with this Law and the provisions of the State Council, clarify the supervision and management responsibilities of the relevant departments for the prevention and control of noise pollution, establish a coordination and linkage mechanism for the prevention and control of noise pollution according to needs, strengthen the cooperation and information sharing of the departments, and promote the prevention and control of noise pollution in their administrative areas.


Article 8 The competent department of ecological environment under the State Council shall exercise unified supervision and management over the prevention and control of noise pollution throughout the country.


The competent ecological and environmental departments of the local people's governments shall exercise unified supervision and management over the prevention and control of noise pollution in their respective administrative areas.


The departments of housing and urban and rural construction, public security, transportation, railway supervision and management, civil aviation, maritime affairs and other departments at all levels shall, within their respective scope of responsibility, supervise and manage the prevention and control of noise pollution in construction, transportation and social life.


Grassroots mass autonomous organizations shall assist local people's governments and relevant departments in the prevention and control of noise pollution.


Article 9 All units and individuals have the obligation to protect the acoustic environment, and at the same time enjoy the right to obtain information about the acoustic environment, participate in and supervise the prevention and control of noise pollution according to law.


Units and individuals that emit noise shall take effective measures to prevent and reduce noise pollution.


Article 10 People's governments at all levels and their relevant departments shall strengthen the publicity and education of laws, regulations and knowledge on the prevention and control of noise pollution, enhance the public's awareness of the prevention and control of noise pollution, and guide the public to participate in the prevention and control of noise pollution according to law.


The news media shall carry out public welfare publicity of laws, regulations and knowledge on the prevention and control of noise pollution, and conduct public opinion supervision on acts violating the laws and regulations on the prevention and control of noise pollution.


The State encourages grass-roots mass autonomous organizations, social organizations, public place managers, owners' committees, property service providers, volunteers, etc. to carry out publicity of laws, regulations and knowledge on the prevention and control of noise pollution.


Article 11 The State encourages and supports the research and development, transformation, popularization and application of scientific and technological achievements in the prevention and control of noise pollution, strengthens the training of professional and technical personnel in the prevention and control of noise pollution, and promotes scientific and technological progress and industrial development in the prevention and control of noise pollution.


Article 12 Units and individuals that have made outstanding achievements in the prevention and control of noise pollution shall be commended and rewarded in accordance with State regulations.


Chapter II Standards and Plans for the Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution


Article 13 The State promotes the construction of a standard system for the prevention and control of noise pollution.


The competent department of ecological environment under the State Council and other relevant departments under the State Council shall, within their respective functions and responsibilities, formulate and improve relevant standards for the prevention and control of noise pollution, and strengthen the connection and coordination between the standards.


Article 14 The competent department of ecological environment under the State Council shall formulate national standards for acoustic environment quality.


The local people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with the national acoustic environmental quality standards, the territorial space planning and the current situation of land use, delimit the applicable areas of various acoustic environmental quality standards in their administrative areas; The area with buildings mainly used for residence, scientific research, medical and health care, culture and education, office and social welfare will be designated as the concentrated area of noise-sensitive buildings to strengthen the prevention and control of noise pollution.


The scope of the applicable areas of the acoustic environmental quality standards and the scope of the concentrated areas of noise-sensitive buildings shall be announced to the public.


Article 15 The competent department of ecological environment under the State Council shall, in accordance with the national acoustic environmental quality standards and the national economic and technical conditions, formulate the national noise emission standards and relevant environmental vibration control standards.


The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government may formulate local noise emission standards for those that have not yet formulated national noise emission standards; Where national noise emission standards have been formulated, local noise emission standards that are stricter than the national noise emission standards may be formulated. Local noise emission standards shall be reported to the competent department of ecological environment under the State Council for the record.


Article 16 The competent standardization department of the State Council, in conjunction with the development and reform, ecological environment, industry and information technology, housing and urban and rural construction, transportation, railway supervision and administration, civil aviation, maritime and other departments of the State Council, shall control industrial equipment, construction machinery, motor vehicles, railway locomotives, urban rail transit vehicles, civil aircraft, motor ships, electrical and electronic products that may cause noise pollution According to the requirements of acoustic environmental protection and the national economic and technical conditions, the noise limit of products such as building auxiliary equipment shall be specified in their technical specifications or product quality standards.


The limit value of noise generated by the products specified in the preceding paragraph shall be indicated in the relevant technical documents. It is prohibited to produce, import or sell products that do not meet the noise limit.


The market supervision and administration departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall supervise and spot check the products with noise limits that are produced and sold, and the noise emitted by special equipment such as elevators when used, with the cooperation of the competent ecological environment department.


Article 17 The acoustic environmental quality standards, noise emission standards and other relevant standards for the prevention and control of noise pollution shall be regularly evaluated and revised in due time according to the evaluation results.


Article 18 People's governments at all levels and their relevant departments shall, when formulating and revising territorial space plans and relevant plans, carry out environmental impact assessment according to law, fully consider the impact of noise generated by urban and rural regional development, renovation and construction projects on the surrounding living environment, make overall planning, reasonably arrange land use and construction layout, and prevent and reduce noise pollution. The relevant environmental impact chapters, descriptions or reports shall include the prevention and control of noise pollution.


Article 19 In determining the construction layout, the noise prevention distance between the building and the traffic trunk line shall be reasonably demarcated in accordance with the national acoustic environment quality standards and the relevant standards for the sound insulation design of civil buildings, and the corresponding planning and design requirements shall be put forward.


Article 20 The people's governments of cities divided into districts and at the county level where the areas that fail to meet the national standards for acoustic environmental quality are located shall promptly prepare plans for improving the quality of the acoustic environment and their implementation plans, and take effective measures to improve the quality of the acoustic environment.


The acoustic environment quality improvement plan and its implementation plan shall be made public to the public.


Article 21 In preparing the plan for improving the quality of the acoustic environment and its implementation plan, and formulating and revising the relevant standards for the prevention and control of noise pollution, the opinions of the relevant industry associations, enterprises and institutions, experts and the public shall be solicited.


Chapter III Supervision and Administration of Prevention and Control of Noise Pollution


Article 22 The emission of noise and the generation of vibration shall comply with the requirements of noise emission standards, relevant environmental vibration control standards and relevant laws, regulations and rules.


The units that emit noise and the managers of public places shall establish a responsibility system for the prevention and control of noise pollution and clarify the responsibilities of the responsible persons and relevant personnel.


Article 23 The competent department of ecological environment under the State Council is responsible for formulating noise monitoring and evaluation specifications, organizing the acoustic environment quality monitoring network with the relevant departments under the State Council, planning the establishment of the national acoustic environment quality monitoring stations (points), organizing and carrying out the national acoustic environment quality monitoring, promoting the monitoring automation, and uniformly publishing the national acoustic environment quality information.


The competent department of ecological environment of the local people's government, together with the relevant departments, shall set up the acoustic environment quality monitoring stations (points) in the administrative region in accordance with the regulations, organize and carry out the acoustic environment quality monitoring in the administrative region, and regularly publish the acoustic environment quality information to the society.


The ecological and environmental departments of the local people's governments shall strengthen the investigation and monitoring of noise emission in key areas such as the surrounding areas of noise-sensitive buildings.


Article 24 Construction projects that may produce noise pollution through construction, reconstruction or expansion shall be subject to environmental impact assessment according to law.


Article 25 The noise pollution prevention and control facilities of construction projects shall be designed, constructed and put into operation at the same time as the main works.


Before a construction project is put into production or use, the construction unit shall, in accordance with the provisions of relevant laws and regulations, check and accept the supporting noise pollution prevention and control facilities, prepare an acceptance report and make it public. The construction project shall not be put into production or use without acceptance or failing to pass the acceptance.


Article 26 The construction of noise-sensitive buildings shall comply with the requirements of the relevant standards for the sound insulation design of civil buildings, and those that do not comply with the requirements of the standards shall not be accepted or delivered for use; When building noise-sensitive buildings on both sides of the main traffic line and around industrial enterprises, a certain distance shall also be set according to regulations, and measures to reduce vibration and noise shall be taken.


Article 27 The State encourages and supports the research, development, popularization and application of low-noise technologies and equipment, and implements a system of eliminating outdated technologies and equipment that cause serious noise pollution.


The development and reform department of the State Council, together with the relevant departments of the State Council, will determine the time limit for the elimination of processes and equipment with serious noise pollution and incorporate them into the national comprehensive industrial policy catalogue.


The producer, importer, seller or user shall stop producing, importing, selling or using the equipment listed in the catalog specified in the preceding paragraph within the prescribed time limit. The adopter of the technology shall stop using the technology listed in the catalog specified in the preceding paragraph within the specified time limit.


Article 28 For areas where the objectives set in the acoustic environment quality improvement plan have not been fulfilled and where the noise pollution problem is prominent and the people's response is strong, the competent department of ecological environment of the people's government at or above the provincial level, together with other departments responsible for the supervision and management of noise pollution prevention and control, will interview the main heads of the people's government and its relevant departments in the area and ask them to take effective measures to rectify in time. The interview and rectification shall be made public.


Article 29 The department in charge of ecological environment and other departments responsible for the supervision and administration of noise pollution prevention and control shall have the right to conduct on-site inspections of units or sites that emit noise. The person under inspection shall truthfully report the situation and provide necessary information, and shall not refuse or obstruct it. The departments and personnel conducting the inspection shall keep confidential the business secrets learned during the on-site inspection.


The inspectors shall conduct on-site inspection by no less than two people and shall show their law enforcement certificates on their own initiative.


Article 30 If noise emission causes serious pollution and is ordered to make corrections and refuses to make corrections, the competent department of ecological environment or other departments responsible for the supervision and management of noise pollution prevention and control may seal up and seize the sites, facilities, equipment, tools and articles that emit noise.


Article 31 Any unit or individual shall have the right to report the acts that cause noise pollution to the competent department of ecological environment or other departments responsible for the supervision and management of noise pollution prevention and control.


The department in charge of ecological environment and other departments responsible for the supervision and management of noise pollution prevention and control shall publish the telephone number and e-mail address for the public to report.


The department receiving the report shall handle it in a timely manner and keep the relevant information of the informant confidential. If the reported matter belongs to the responsibility of other departments, the department receiving the report shall promptly transfer it to the relevant departments and inform the informant. If the informant requests a reply and provides effective contact information, the department dealing with the reported matter shall feed back the handling results and other information.


Article 32 The State encourages the establishment of quiet areas such as quiet communities and quiet carriages to jointly maintain a harmonious and peaceful living environment.


Article 33 During the special activities such as the entrance examination for secondary schools and the unified entrance examination for colleges and universities, the local people's government or the department designated by it may make restrictive regulations on the time and area of the activities that may produce noise impact, and inform the public in advance.


Chapter IV Prevention and Control of Industrial Noise Pollution


Article 34 The term "industrial noise" as used in this Law refers to the sound that is produced in the course of industrial production and impairs the living environment of the neighbourhood.


Article 35 The site selection of industrial enterprises shall comply with the requirements of the territorial space planning and relevant planning. The local people's governments at or above the county level shall optimize the layout of industrial enterprises in accordance with the planning requirements to prevent industrial noise pollution.


In areas where noise-sensitive buildings are concentrated, it is forbidden to build new industrial enterprises that emit noise, or to rebuild or expand industrial enterprises, effective measures shall be taken to prevent industrial noise pollution.


Article 36 Enterprises, institutions and other producers and operators that emit industrial noise shall take effective measures to reduce vibration and noise and obtain a pollution discharge license or fill in and submit a pollution discharge registration form according to law.


Units that implement the management of pollution discharge licenses shall not discharge industrial noise without pollution discharge licenses, and shall carry out the prevention and control of noise pollution in accordance with the requirements of pollution discharge licenses.


Article 37 The competent department of ecological environment of the local people's government at or above the level of a city divided into districts shall, in accordance with the provisions of the competent department of ecological environment under the State Council and in accordance with the requirements for noise emission and improvement of the quality of the acoustic environment, formulate a list of key noise emission units in its administrative region, make it public to the society and update it in due time.


Article 38 The units that implement the management of pollution discharge licenses shall, in accordance with regulations, carry out self-monitoring of industrial noise, keep the original monitoring records, disclose the monitoring results to the public, and be responsible for the authenticity and accuracy of the monitoring data.


Key noise emission discharging units shall, in accordance with national regulations, install, use and maintain automatic noise monitoring equipment, and network with the monitoring equipment of the competent department of ecological environment.


Chapter V Prevention and Control of Construction Noise Pollution


Article 39 For the purpose of this Law, the term "construction noise" refers to the noise that disturbs the surroundings during construction