Quiet to prevail for longer hours on residential streets

Environment Ministry wants to toughen noise restriction regulations.

By EHUD ZION WALDOKS
If you’re been woken up by the sound of a jackhammer at 6 every morning or if you know all the words to the latest dance hit your neighbor insists on playing at top volume every night, then the Environmental Protection Ministry would like to come to your rescue.
Revised, harsher noise pollution regulations which might give residents a little more time to catch their breath and enjoy the quiet were proposed by the ministry and await the approval of the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee.
The new regulations would tackle all those noises that disturb residents in two ways. Existing regulations would be extended to cover more hours and the updated regulations prohibit a whole slew of noises in residential areas for the first time.
You or your neighbor will not be allowed to renovate your apartments between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. instead of between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. as is the case now. Larger construction projects must be halted by 7 p.m. and not resumed until 7 a.m., adding another hour of blissfully quiet sleep – unless your kids wake you up at 5 a.m. anyway.
The use of megaphones and voice amplifiers are even more circumscribed under the new regulations.
Whereas playing musical instruments or the radio or TV loudly was permitted on residential streets during certain hours of the day, now it will be forbidden altogether, no matter when. Gardening will be permitted during the day starting at 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. or until 5 p.m. on the days before rest days (such as Friday). Until now, if your neighbor down the street felt the need for a little midnight gardening, there was nothing to stop her.
And if you routinely feel the need to have a good yell at 10:30 every night, well, cut that back to 10 p.m.
The new regulations would also prohibit a number of differentactivities which heretofore had been unregulated. The next time youwant to set off firecrackers while using a leafblower while setting offyour car alarm next to your house – you’ll be charged with threeseparate violations.
Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan remarked “Israel is acrowded and noisy place and a quiet living area is a basic need whichis becoming increasingly rare. The plan we are promoting willdrastically reduce noise pollution to allow residents to enjoy quietand tranquility at home.”