The legal regulation of noise pollution
In Georgian law noise is not a mere technical parameter but a factor of environmental impact: the law on environmental protection names among the constituent factors of the environment energy, noise and radiation, as well as waste, chemical substances, emissions and other types of pollution that influence or are presumably expected to influence the constituent elements of the environment. Under this definition noise stands legally as an object of environmental protection, and its limit values are determined by the state normative system.
Maximum permissible norms for noise
In the list of quality norms of the condition of the environment under Article 29 of the law, the maximum permissible norms for noise, vibration, electromagnetic fields and other physical impacts appear directly, side by side with the norms for the concentration of harmful substances in air, water and soil and with radiation impact norms. These norms are determined once every 5 years by the regulation on quality norms of the condition of the environment, which the ministry of labour, health and social protection develops and approves in agreement with the environmental ministry. The acceptable level of noise is thus determined not by local rules but by a regulation established at the state level and periodically renewed.
For an enterprise owning a noise source, two consequences follow. First — compliance must be assessed not by general perception but by measurement, against the normative limits. Second — measures connected with noise enter, through their environmental component, the circle of activities that become the object of assessment procedures, since noise is recognized by law as a factor of impact on the environment.
State control and supervision
Article 57 of the law governs the system of state control. In the sphere of environmental protection and the use of natural resources, control is exercised — within the powers granted by legislation — by the ministry, the department, the Agency of Protected Areas, the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Agency and the state forest management body. The department carries out inspection, which covers the planned or unplanned checking and the viewing of the object of regulation. The basis for a check is an individual administrative-legal act issued by the minister or the head of the department, the appeal of which does not suspend the check; a viewing does not require the issuance of an act. In the border zone, the periods of checks are coordinated with the border police.
Compensation of damage and limitation
The law does not release the perpetrator from the obligation to compensate damage caused to the environment — this rule applies to noise as well, where the impact has led to damage. The limitation period for a claim for damage caused to the environment is 10 years from the moment the right of claim arises. That right arises from the moment the controlling authority learned of the damage and of the liable person. For the operator of a noise source this means that a dispute may arise within a time-extended perspective as well.
The practical side of noise assessment
For the owner of a noise source, assessment requires two types of measurement: establishing the background level existing at the boundaries of the territory and measuring the impact caused by the enterprise. The difference determines precisely whether the object complies with the quality norms. Since the norms are renewed once every five years, the results of measurements must always be compared with the last published regulation and not with a version from years ago.
The second practical issue is preparing for dispute: if neighbours complain about noise, their claim may legally reach even a demand for environmental damage, whose limitation period is 10 years. In this case the timeliness and documentation of measurements become decisive — defensive material should be collected precisely while the object is still in compliance.
At the planning stage it is also useful to sum the sources of impact: several devices working simultaneously on the territory create a common picture, and each one's separate compliance does not yet mean that the limit is respected at the boundary. Therefore measurement is carried out precisely in the regime in which the object actually operates — under conditions of full load.
The distinction of night and day regimes also stands in this account: the limit norms take into account the duration of impact as well, and in practice it is precisely prolonged, repeated impact that creates the real ground of a dispute. A one-time, short impact deserves a different assessment, and documenting this difference gives the operator of the noise source an exact position.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are the most frequent questions about noise regulation.
Where are the permissible noise limits?
In the system of quality norms: the maximum permissible norms for noise, vibration, electromagnetic fields and other physical impacts are determined once every 5 years by the corresponding regulation.
Who controls noise?
State control in the sphere of environmental protection is exercised by the ministry, the department and the other authorities provided by law; inspection covers planned or unplanned checks and viewings.
What is the limitation period for damage?
The limitation period for a claim for environmental damage is 10 years from the moment the right arises — when the controlling authority learns of the damage and of the liable person.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The lawyers of Legal.ge assist in establishing the normative requirements for noise, in organizing a compliance assessment, in procedures connected with inspection, and in responding to damage claims. Every position rests on the norms of the law described above.