A new Regulation on Environmental Noise Control (the “Regulation”) is published in the Official Gazette dated 30.11.2022. The Regulation aims to prevent the negative effects of environmental noise on environment and human health, implementation of noise control precautions to decrease environmental noise and inform public regarding the actions taken for the management of environmental noise. The Regulation covers industrial plants, transportation hubs, music-playing establishments, sea vehicles, construction sites, and other outdoor activities that may cause environmental noise as the Regulation introduces restrictions such as time limits, permission requirements, and constant monitoring for the said activities.

According to the Regulation, the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change (“Ministry”) primarily sets forth the policies regarding the minimization of environmental noise and works in cooperation with other institutions and organizations to ensure the implementation of the Regulation. The Regulation also urges the local administrations to implement the Ministry’s policies under their jurisdictions through Provincial Local Environment Boards.

The Regulation introduces the concepts of strategic noise maps, strategic noise action plans, and acoustic reports for detecting, reporting and diminishing the environmental noise. Accordingly, the institutions will be obliged to comply with the technical standards and measures set forth under the Regulation.. Also ,workplaces and sea vehicles streaming music have become obliged to obtain a music streaming consent upon evaluation by the relevant Provincial Directorate of the acoustic report prepared such workplaces or vehicles.

The Regulation also appoints the Ministry of Culture and Tourism to take necessary precautions to protect natural and historical landmarks from environmental noise and vibration.

Failure to comply with the Regulation is subject to administrative fines as foreseen in the Article 20 of the Environment Law (Law No. 2872).