A new set of Beijing noise pollution prevention and control regulations, jointly issued Tuesday by the municipal environmental protection bureau and the legal affairs office, has upped fines for those making noise in the capital.

 

The regulations, which will take effect next year, replacing the 1984 regulations, state that individuals or shops who seriously disturb the peace with car honking, deafening sound systems or noisy house decorating on the weekend and during vacations will be fined 200 to 500 yuan (about US$25 to 63) each time.

 

Fines for this sort of activity were limited to a maximum of 50 yuan (about US$7) in the 1984 regulations.

 

The newly-issued regulations also said construction sites that illegally keep working at night are subject to fines of 30,000 yuan (about US$3,750).

 

Companies which build highways, railroads or flyovers must take measures to control noise pollution when the projects can affect nearby residents.

 

The noise prevention and control expenditure should be part of the total cost of the projects, said the regulations.

 

Nearly 50 percent of environmental protection complaints in Beijing in the last two years concerned noise pollution, said Zheng Jiang, vice director of the municipal environmental protection bureau.

 

The bureau received over 13,000 complaints about Beijing noise pollution from January to November this year. In 2005, about 9,600 complaints were lodged against noise pollution.

 

The bureau's investigations showed that over one million Beijing citizens are currently suffering round-the-clock noise pollution, the official said.

 

Some experts said the new fines are still not high enough to really muffle noise pollution.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 20, 2006)