Dispute over noise from sports fields, playgrounds, and skateparks. Residents don't want changes to the regulations.

• The Commissioner for Human Rights is receiving an increasing number of complaints from citizens about noise coming from sports and recreational facilities.
• Sport should not be considered a superior good to the peace of rest and undisturbed sleep - writes the Commissioner for Human Rights.
• The exclusion of sports and recreational facilities from noise standards must be considered as requiring reconsideration - writes Marcin Wiącek to the Minister of Climate and Environment, Paulina Hennig-Kloska.

The Ministry of Climate and Environment is conducting legislative work aimed at exempting playing fields, tennis courts, running tracks and skateparks, which are very often municipal facilities, from the regulation of the Minister of the Environment of 14 June 2007 on permissible noise levels in the environment.

The aim of these changes is to implement the obligation to "support the development of physical culture, especially among children and young people" (Article 68, paragraph 5 of the Constitution).

However, the Commissioner for Human Rights raised significant doubts regarding the compliance of the draft amending regulation with the Constitution of the Republic of Poland. As the Commissioner notes, promoting sports activities cannot come at the expense of citizens' rights to protection from noise.

The development of physical culture cannot be a goal in itself – it serves a superior value, which is health prevention. Interpreting paragraph 5 cannot lead to a breach of the guarantees in paragraph 4 of Article 68, which states that public authorities are obligated to prevent the negative health effects of environmental degradation.

- writes the Commissioner for Human Rights.

He adds that public authorities cannot tolerate, for example, the emission of pollutants into the environment as an inevitable consequence of practicing sports. And excessive noise – under Environmental Protection Law – is a type of pollution.

According to the spokesman, noise from sports games includes the sounds of balls, whistles, and the shouts of the coach, players, and the audience. This is sudden, so-called impulse noise. According to Professor Henryk Skarżyński, "impulse noise is much more dangerous than continuous noise. It often reaches ears unprepared for the perception of loud sounds."

As it turns out, the Commissioner for Human Rights' office is receiving an increasing number of complaints about noise from sports and recreational facilities, and even children's playgrounds. Sometimes, it makes conversation impossible, even at home. It can reach 75 to 90 dB, even at night.

At the same time, the complainants do not oppose the existence of sports or recreational facilities themselves. Instead, they demand that their managers enforce the regulations and protect them from being used for non-sporting purposes (e.g., gatherings with loud music and alcohol).

- adds the spokesman.

As the Commissioner for Human Rights writes, complainants have unsuccessfully requested assistance from law enforcement. Reports are ignored or ineffective, as incidents recur after interventions. Requests to local authorities to install appropriate security measures are ignored.

The Ombudsman also notes that obtaining a cessation or restriction of use of a sports facility through a court ruling is very difficult for the average citizen . The burden of proof rests with the plaintiff, i.e., the residents. A court ruling must be preceded by an evidentiary hearing, often including expert opinions.

According to the spokesperson, regulations that will reduce these tensions should be developed with the participation of experts in construction, acoustics, and health, as well as through broad and effective public consultations. However, he notes that during the drafting process, due to the urgent need for its implementation, public consultation and review were shortened to seven days. The reason for the urgency classification remains unclear.

In her response to the Commissioner for Human Rights, Anita Sowińska, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Culture and Environment, wrote that the amendment planned by the ministry was solely of an administrative nature , by sanctioning the current legal status, adapting the provisions of the regulation to the regulations contained in the Act of 27 April 2001 – Environmental Protection Law.

Pursuant to Article 2, Section 2a of the Environmental Protection Act, the provisions of this Act do not apply to noise generated by general use of the environment, which includes school or recreational activities, such as those carried out on playing fields, courts, running tracks, and skate parks. However, with respect to sports facilities used in a manner inconsistent with general use of the environment, i.e., professionally or commercially, the Environmental Protection Act provides for permissible noise levels, as well as regulations for their enforcement.

Sowińska notes that in the case of negative acoustic impacts of sports facilities, Article 115a, paragraph 1 of the Environmental Protection Act applies. According to this provision, if an environmental protection authority determines, based on its own measurements or those of the entity responsible for conducting such measurements, that permissible noise levels are exceeded outside the facility as a result of its operations, the authority issues a decision on the permissible noise level. Exceeding the permissible noise level is considered to be the exceedance of the LAeq D or LAeq N noise level indicator, as defined in the regulation.

I would also like to inform you that the Ministry of Climate and Environment is carefully analyzing the reports it receives regarding the excessive acoustic impact of sports facilities. Problems related to their negative acoustic impact are often the result of poor location decisions for these types of investments, as well as the lack of appropriate acoustic protection in construction designs.

- admits Sowińska.

It also points out that the location of sports facilities is outside the scope of the Environmental Protection Act and the regulation and is subject to the provisions of the Spatial Planning and Development Act of 27 March 2003. However, the detailed technical requirements that buildings and their location must meet are regulated by the Regulation of the Minister of Infrastructure of 12 April 2002 on the technical requirements that buildings and their location must meet.

The Deputy Minister also notes that, under applicable regulations, noise from private individuals accompanying social gatherings with loud music and alcohol is treated as general environmental use and is not covered by the Environmental Protection Act. Cases of sports infrastructure facilities being used in a manner inconsistent with their intended purpose result from inadequate regulations governing the use of these facilities or insufficient enforcement of the rules set forth therein.

Sowińska also announced that the Ministry of Sport and Tourism is currently reviewing a draft bill amending the Sports Act, which will include regulations regarding the general use of the environment in relation to sports facilities. Therefore, reviewing amendments to the Regulation of the Minister of the Environment of 14 June 2007 on permissible noise levels in the environment may prove unjustified.