- The system called BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) was implemented in the city in the 70s of the last century. It is considered a “successful” model. The city is divided into several road axes to allow the traffic of hundreds of bi-articulated buses , exclusive channels for their circulation. There are the following routes: southwest (boqueirão), north (Santa Cândida), south (Pinheirinho), east Centenário to Pinhais and west (Campo Comprido), among others.[1]
- However, this passenger transport system generates collateral damage to the city and its residents.
- The noise and environmental sound pollution of these buses and the damage caused to the neighborhood (see: residential areas adjacent to the bus lanes and the respective terminals) are simply ignored by the local environmental and traffic agencies.
- At every interval of 5 (five) minutes to up to 10 (ten minutes) bus noise is felt within residential and commercial environments, during the morning, afternoon and night, including holidays and weekends. The situation is aggravated by the system of acceleration of the buses’ engines when going uphill.
- Day by day, month by month, year and year, one can see in the city of Curitiba the environmental degradation caused by the emission of noise from buses in the collective passenger transport system.
- The degradation of traffic quality implies environmental degradation and, consequently, the degradation of the quality of life in the city.[2]
- The Encyclical Letter Pope Francis’ Laudato Si on Caring for the Commons highlights the importance of environmental quality for life.[3]
- Also, damage to environmental health caused by noise from buses in the passenger transport system.
- Mechanical noises from buses impact the many system: cognitive, cardiovascular, digestive, nervous and sleep. Noise generates stress to the human body.
According the World Health Organization the maximum of noise must be 53 dB during the day and 45 db during the night.
- The limit situation for health is a maximum of 53 dB (fifty three decibels) during the day and 45 dB (forty five decibels) during the night, according to the WHO. More Above this value there is discomfort and risks to physical health, hearing health, mental health, etc. And the situation is aggravated for the health condition of heart patients, people and health treatment, patients with anxiety and depression disorders, autistic people, the elderly, babies, among other vulnerable groups.
- And even at night, the damage to public health is greater as noise disrupts sleep and sleep quality. Scientific studies show serious effects on sleep quality due to noise and noise pollution.[4]
- Both air pollution and noise pollution from traffic compromise the environmental quality and quality of life, and residential quality of people living in the vicinity of public transport corridors.
- Noise and environmental noise pollution from buses cause degradation of environmental quality and, consequently, of quality of life.
- The quality of life in the residential environment and/or urban environment is incompatible with the presence of bus noise from passenger transport.
- They are, therefore, a disservice to the city of Curitiba, making it a dirty, unhealthy and unsustainable city.
- Systemic noise and environmental noise pollution impact the urban environment, the residential environment, the work environment, the school environment, the hospital environment, among others. There are noises in the morning, afternoon and night, at all hours.
- With the coronavirus pandemic and the post-pandemic period, the absolute relevance of public health, environmental health and mental health in cities became evident. And the need for changes for the public sector, providing quality public services, to ensure environmental quality and environmental safety, in the face of epidemiological risks.
- Well, we are experiencing an epidemic of noise from passenger transport buses in the city. It is an epidemiological scenario that impacts public health and environmental health.
- And the problem with noise is its exponential scale, that is, the increase, for example, of 3 dB (three decibels) increases the perception of noise intensity. Sound pressure is measured in decibels. [5]
- However, the decibel alone does not show the intensity of the discomfort caused by noise to humans. Then, it’s necessary to measure the quality and wellness in residential environment and urban environment.
17. The World Health Organization advises that noise above 50 dB (fifty decibels) causes damage to environmental health, hearing health, mental health, occupational health, etc.
18. More precisely, the World Health Organization establishes the following traffic noise limit for health protection – 53 dB (fifty-three decibels) during the day and 45 dB (forty-five decibels) during the night.
19. Curitiba’s passenger transport system does not meet the recommendation of the World Health Organization for the limit situation of decibels, during the day and night.
20. For this reason, it is urgently necessary for the city of Curitiba to adapt to the recommendation of WHO health protection standard.
21. In 2022, the UN published Resolution no. 76 on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. Considering this Resolution, it is clear that the public transport system denies the right to clean, healthy and sustainable, free of noise and environmental noise pollution.
22. The United Nations has the goals of sustainable development: health and well-being (goal 3), quality education (goal 4), decent work (goal 8), industry, innovation and infrastructure (goal 9), cities and sustainable communities (goal 11), responsible consumption and production (goal 12).
23. Now, if Curitiba intends to align itself with the objectives of sustainable development, it must also include the fight against environmental noise pollution caused by buses that transport passengers. To become a clean, smart, healthy and sustainable city, Curitiba must combat the noise of passenger transport buses.
24. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development deals with the topic in the study How’s life ? 2020. Measuring wellness . Also, the study shows that subjective well-being is an indicator of quality of life. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has studies on environmental quality and its relationship with quality of life and subjective well [6]-being .
25. Scientific research points to the loss of quality of life and health due to noise and environmental noise pollution. [7]It is evident that there is no environmental quality and quality of life with mechanical noise and environmental noise pollution. Also, scientific studies point out the biological effects caused by noise pollution and the risks to people’s health. See: World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe. Biological mechanisms related to cardiovascular and metabolic effects by environmental noise, per Charlotte Eriksson and others. See also : Burden of disease from environmental noise. Quantification of healthy life years lost in Europe , World Health Organization, European commission. See also : European Environmental Agency: Projected health impacts from transportation noise – exploring two scenarios for 2030 , Nuria Blaneas et al., ETC-Report 2022. See : Transport Noise. How it affects our health and wellbeing. Institute of Acoustics. And Blanes, Nuria. Projected health impact from transportation noise – exploring two scenarios for 2030 , European Environmental Agency. On the quantification of healthy life years lost in Europe due to environmental noise, see: Burden of disease from environmental noise , World Health Organization , Regional Office for Europe , 2011. See: Review of evidence relating to environment noise exposure and annoyance, sleep disturbance, cardio-vascular and metabolic health outcome in the context of Interdepartmental Group on Costs and Benefits Noise Subject Group, from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport of the Netherlands , 2019. See : Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Regional, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe. See: Environmental noise in Europe, 2020, European Environment Agency. To see Noises, blases and mismatches. Emerging issues of environment concern . UN: environment programme , Frontiers, 2002. See also : European Commission , Assessment of potential health benefits of noise abatement measures in the EU , March 2021. See : Healthy environment, healthy lifes : how the environment influences health and well-being in Europe , European Environment Agency, 2019. See also Ribas, Angela . Doctoral thesis Reflections on the sound environment of the city of Curitiba: the perception of urban noise and its effects on the quality of lives of residents of special structural sectors, doctoral thesis defended at the Federal University of Paraná.
26. With regard to the issue of noise and its impact on public health, the Public Ministry of São Paulo held a public hearing in the city of São Paulo, with the participation of various entities and citizens interested in the subject.[8]
Devaluation of real estate in areas degraded by noise and environmental noise pollution .
27. Economic studies point to the devaluation of real estate in environments polluted by noise, even noisy neighborhoods are a factor in property depreciation.
28. On the subject, consult Elisabete MM Arsenio and his work The Valuation of environmental externalities : a states preference case study on traffic noise in Lisbon , thesis presented before the University of Leeds and Institute for Transport Studies in 2002.
29. The author describes the environmental value of urban stillness and the environmental damage caused by traffic noise pollution in the city of Lisbon. It describes the damage caused to the residential environment by transport noise pollution.
30. The author points out the factors for measuring environmental damage: area of the residential environment impacted by noise pollution (work area, rest areas, rest areas, leisure areas, study areas, among others), length of stay of residents in the local environment, the number of people residing in the property, the proximity of the area affected by noise pollution in front of the street, the level of education of the residents of the property, the type of street through which the traffic occurs, the usual work or study in the residence, the opening of windows during summer and autumn, number of years of residents living in the property, among other criteria.
31. Thus, the plaintiff concludes that the environmental degradation caused by traffic noise pollution is a factor in the devaluation of the property. When the environmental surroundings of the property are affected by noise pollution, there is a devaluation of the property, as it impacts its use value and non -use value .
32. The author suggests compensation for environmental damage to the population exposed to noise pollution. One of the criteria of the valuation methodology is the hedonic method, including the use value of the non-use value of the property. In the evaluation, the impact on the indoor and outdoor environment of the property is considered. Noise pollution is considered a negative externality to the transit and transport system.
33. Chia-Jena Yu, in his work Environmentally sustainable acoustics in urban residential areas, thesis before the Sheffield Faculty of Architecture, highlights the impact of traffic on residential areas, differentiating the environmental noise pollution of light, medium and heavy vehicles. The author defends the integration of acoustic urban sustainability with urban policy and residential policy.
34. For these reasons, the city of Curitiba must adopt measures to mitigate bus noise for passenger transport, to prevent continuous environmental noise pollution from becoming a factor in the devaluation of properties close to public roads where buses circulate.
Noise and environmental noise pollution from passenger transport buses offend several fundamental rights.
35. As can be seen from the law, any sounds, noises and vibrations that cause nuisance, beyond any legal limits, are prohibited.
36 . In addition, when it comes to the protection of fundamental rights, the municipal law must be interpreted to guarantee the maximum protection of the fundamental rights to quality of life , health , rest , work and the environment.
37. There are several fundamental rights affected by noise and noise pollution from public passenger transport buses.
38. There is injury to the right to quality of life , which is affected by mechanical noise Residents in their own homes lose the conditions of normal use of their homes and property.
39. Another injury is the right to health, which is seriously impacted by the construction noise. In a pandemic and post-pandemic period, in a moment of high stress, noise ends up aggravating the health of people who live in the vicinity of the work. There is damage to physical and mental health caused by noise, aggravating states of stress and anxiety.
40. Another fundamental right violated is the right to work , affecting cognition and productivity. People who work from home are affected by noise pollution from buses. Not only that, condominium workers are also affected by the noise pollution of the work.
41. There is also the injury to the right to rest and well-being , people are unable to relax in their own home due to noise pollution, which occurs every week of the year.
42. Noise and environmental noise pollution from buses significantly impacts the human environment. The human environment where the neighbors live to the public roads where the buses circulate.
43. In summary: noise and noise pollution cause acoustic environmental damage, causing degradation of the environmental quality where the neighborhood community lives.
44. There is damage to the ecological dimension of the principle of human dignity . The residential environment of the home is the person’s sacred environment, it is the refuge, the habitat, the shelter and, however, it is the target of noise pollution.
45 . Another point to note is the right to a culture of urban stillness, which protects the external environment and the residential environment.
46 . Citizens have the right to urban quiet, without the noise of buses.
47 . There is the right to sound environmental sustainability, in order to combat acoustic environmental degradation in cities.
48. Therefore, it is inadmissible the disregard of the Municipality of Curitiba for the protection of fundamental rights impacted by the excessive noise of passenger transport buses.
Right to the soundscape of the city, without environmental noise pollution.
49. Here, we are going to address the soundscape of the city. There is no adequate perception of the influence of noise and noise pollution in cities. The environment is contaminated by noise, which affects environmental quality and environmental health and, of course, human, physical and mental health. This contaminated soundscape affects the “psychological landscape” of the person.
50. Noise generates stress in the human body.
51. The mechanosphere and/or technosphere it is a factor of acoustic contamination of the biosphere . Therefore, acoustic polluting buses cause the loss of environmental quality and also the loss of health. The literature is very rich in the understanding of this theme. Likewise, noise and noise pollution destroy fauna biodiversity, mainly impacting birds. But there is also the impact on animal health and well-being, mainly dogs and cats, with greater hearing than human hearing.
52. On mechanical noise, see: Bijsterveld , Karin. Mechanical Sound. Technology, culture and public problems of noise in the twentieth century . Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2008. On the mechanization of life and cities, see: Gidion . Mechanization takes command. A contribution to anonymous history . Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 2017.
53. On the notion of acoustic space , see Marshall McLuhmann . Here, the author explains that sound is related to hearing, an organ of contact, of interconnection with the environment.
54. On the notion of acoustic atmosphere , see: Bohme , Gernot . Atmospheric Architectures. The aesthetics of felt spaces , edited and translated by A. Chr. Engels- Schwarzpaul . Bloombsbury , Berlin, 2017.
55. On urban atmosphere, see: Niels Abertsen , Urban atmospheres , ambiences , redecouvertes . About the story acoustics , see : Francisco Aletta and Jiang Kang: Historical acoustics relationships between people and sound over time . Basel: MPDPI, 2020.
56. In Brazil, on soundscape , we have the following works: Oliveira, Marcio Luis , Custódio e Maraluce , M. Lima, Carolina Carneiro. Law and landscape. The affirmation of an individual and diffuse fundamental right. Belo Horizonte: Editora D’Plácido , 2017. Also, see: Custódio, Maraluce , Santos, Fernando Barotti and Máximo, Maria Flávia (organizers). Landscape law. Legal and interdisciplinary aspects . Belo Horizonte, São Paulo: D’Plácido , 2021. On cultural landscapes, see: Andreotti , Cultural landscapes , Curitiba: Editora UFPR, 2013.
57. On the environmental and aesthetic value of quiet spaces, see: Bentley , clive. Tranquil Spaces, measuring the tranquility of public spaces . Suffolk: Sharps Redmore Press, 2019.
58. Urban auditory aesthetics is an environmental quality, associated with environmental health and auditory well-being.
59. One of the factors to be respected in urban, environmental, health, educational and cultural policy in cities.
Noise and environmental noise pollution from passenger transport buses violate the Federal Constitution
60. The city of Curitiba, by not containing the environmental noise pollution from passenger transport buses, acts in disagreement with the Federal Constitution.
61. The Federal Constitution guarantees the right to a healthy, ecologically balanced environment. To ensure the effectiveness of the right to an ecologically balanced environment, public authorities must: preserve and restore essential ecological processes and promote the ecological management of species and ecosystems (article 225, paragraph 1), require, in accordance with the law, for the installation of work or activities potentially causing significant degradation of the environment, a prior study of the environmental impact, which will be publicized (article 225, IV), control production, commercialization, employment of techniques, methods and substances that pose a risk to life, quality of life and the environment (article 225, V), promote environmental education at all levels of education and public awareness for the preservation of the environment (article 225).
62. According to the Constitution: “Conducts and activities harmful to the environment will subject violators, natural or legal persons, to criminal and administrative sanctions, regardless of the obligation to repair the damage caused” (art. 225, §3º).
63. As principles of the economic order, the Constitution establishes: “protection of the environment , including through differentiated treatment according to the environmental impact of products and services and their preparation and delivery processes ” ( article 170, item VI).
64. There is also an entire constitutional chapter dedicated to science, technology and innovation, articles 218 to 219.
65. According to article 219-B: “The national system of science, technology and innovation will be organized in a collaboration regime between entities, both public and private, with a view to promoting scientific and technological development and innovation” .
66. And yet article 291 provides that the internal market is part of the national heritage and will be encouraged in order to enable cultural and socioeconomic development, the well-being of the population and the technological autonomy of the country, under the terms of the law” .
67. Now, we currently have a situation of unconstitutionality due to omission in environmental inspection.
68. There is also a pattern of acoustic inefficiency, allowing the indiscriminate proliferation of machines, tools, equipment and vehicles that pollute noise.
69. For this reason, it is essential that the law encourage technological innovation to implement the principle of acoustic efficiency and defend acoustic environmental sustainability.
70. Regarding the responsibility of public authorities, the Constitution defines: “legal entities governed by public law and those governed by private law providing public services shall be liable for damages that their agents, in that capacity, cause to third parties, ensuring the right of recourse against the responsible in cases of intent or negligence”, art. 37, §6º.
71. Jurisprudence determines that environmental responsibility is objective. In this case, both the public authorities and the concessionaire of the public service of collective passenger transport have environmental responsibility for the environmental damage caused to the city’s population. On the subject, see the article: Souza, Renato Ferreira and Souza, Claudete. Civil liability on noise pollution by public transport in the metropolitan region of São Paulo, available on the internet .
Noise and noise pollution from passenger transport buses offend the Federal Environmental Law.
72. The situation in Curitiba of noise and sound pollution from passenger transport buses is offensive to the Federal Environmental Law.
73. The National Environmental Policy Law defines pollution as “degradation of environmental quality resulting from activities that directly or indirectly: a) harm the health, safety, and well-being of the population; b) create adverse conditions for social and economic activities: c) adversely affect the biota; d) affect the aesthetic or sanitary conditions of the environment; e) release matter or energy in violation of established environmental standards”.
74 . One of the principles of the national environmental policy is environmental quality.
75. Therefore, the city of Curitiba is acting in violation of the Federal Environmental Law.
Noise and noise pollution from public passenger transport buses violate the Environmental Law of Curitiba.
76 . The city of Curitiba, by failing to inspect public passenger transport services, violates its own environmental law.
77. According to Law no. 15.852/2021:
“Art. 2. For the establishment of the environmental policy, the following guidelines will be observed:
I – interdisciplinarity in dealing with environmental issues;
II – community participation and social control in actions in defense of the environment:
(…)
IV – maintenance of a balanced environment
V – sustainable use of soil, water, flora and air”
(…)
IX – licensing, monitoring and inspection of activities or undertakings that use natural resources, potentially or effectively polluting or capable, in any way, of causing environmental degradation;
(…)
XI – promotion of environmental education aimed at the entire community, making it aware of environmental issues.
(…)
Art. 3rd. For compliance with the provisions of art. 30 of the Federal Constitution, with regard to the environment, considering the following to be of local interest:
I – encouraging the adoption of habits, customs, attitudes, values and social and economic practices that are not harmful to the environment.
(…)
V – control of atmospheric, water, noise and residual pollution levels, through licensing processes and environmental inspection;
(..)
VII – the use of police power in defense of the environment;
Art. 4th. The municipality of Curitiba, in the exercise of its constitutional competence related to the environment, is responsible for mobilizing and coordinating its actions, human, financial, material, technical and scientific resources , as well as the participation of the population in achieving the objectives and interests established in this law, and must therefore:
(…)
IV – exercise control of environmental pollution, in its different forms, through licensing, monitoring and inspection actions.
(…)
Article 42. The launch or release into the atmosphere of any type, form of matter or energy that goes against the emission standards and conditioning criteria, defined in the current legislation, is prohibited .
§1. Emission standards constitute the maximum permissible emission limits to be released into the atmosphere by potentially polluting stationary sources.
§2. Conditioning standards constitute the technical conditions of implantation or operation that must be observed by stationary sources of atmospheric pollution.
(…)
Art. 45. The Environmental Agency may require adaptations or alterations in the generating sources, so that atmospheric emissions are minimized.
Single paragraph. At the discretion of the Environmental Agency in areas where there is a significant concentration of air pollution sources or where there are unfavorable conditions for the dispersion of pollutants, the use of energy matrices with less polluting potential may be required, for new or existing undertakings.
Art. 46. No source or set of sources potentially polluting the air may emit matter or energy into the atmosphere, in quantities and conditions that may result in average concentrations higher than the air quality standards established by current state legislation.
Single paragraph. Air quality standards are the concentrations of pollutants that, if exceeded, could affect the health, safety and well-being of the population , cause damage to flora and fauna, geodiversity , material acts and the environment in general”.
78. The Municipality of Curitiba is omitted regarding the prevention of environmental damage and repression of the behavior of the environmental noise polluter, in the case of the emission of noise by public transport buses. In this way, the Municipality becomes an indirect polluter.
79. These articles 42, 45 and 46 of Environmental Law 15.852/2021 must be applied to control noise pollution.
80. Noises are agents that attack the environment. Noise causes toxic air quality pollution. Noises are sound waves that propagate through the atmosphere in different directions. Noise is also vibrations that increase the sound pressure in the environment.
81. Environmental legislation must be interpreted to maximize the protection of fundamental rights.
82. Furthermore, the environmental legislation must be interpreted according to the principles of contemporary environmentalism : the principle of preventing environmental damage, the principle of environmental precaution, the principle of preventing environmental setbacks, the polluter pays principle, among others.[9]
Noise and noise pollution from passenger transport offend the City Statute.
83. Curitiba, by failing to monitor noise and environmental noise pollution in public passenger transport services, violates the City Statute.
84. The City Statute (Law n. 10.257/2011) establishes the guidelines for urban policy. These are norms for the discipline of urban property in favor of the collective good, security, well-being of citizens and environmental balance (art. 1, sole paragraph).
85. Urban policy aims to guarantee the right to sustainable cities (art. 2, item I), the planning of cities and economic activities in order to avoid and correct distortions of urban growth and its negative effects on the environment (article 2, IV), the ordering and control of land use (article 2, item VI), in order to avoid the inappropriate use of urban properties, the proximity of incompatible or inconvenient uses, the deterioration of urbanized areas , pollution and environmental degradation.
86. Other aspects considered in the law are the “ adoption of standards of production and consumption of goods and services compatible with the limits of environmental, social and economic sustainability of the municipality ” (article 2, item VIII), the fair distribution of benefits and burdens resulting from the urbanization process (article 2, item VII), protection, preservation and recovery of the natural and built environment, of the cultural, historical, artistic, landscape and archeological heritage (article 2, item XII), audience of the municipal government and the population interested in the implementation processes of undertakings or activities with potentially negative effects on the natural or built environment, the comfort or safety of the population (article 2, item XIII).
87. Among the instruments of urban policy: previous study of environmental impact and previous study of neighborhood impact.
Noise and environmental sound pollution from passenger transport buses violate the Master Plan of Curitiba
88. Curitiba, by allowing noise and environmental noise pollution from public passenger transport buses, violates the Master Plan.
89. The Master Plan deals with the environmental quality of the urban space (art. 16).
90. Also, the Master Plan on natural and cultural environmental heritage contains the following rules:
“Art. 61. The municipal policy for the environment aims to promote the conservation, protection, recovery and rational use of the environment, in its natural and cultural aspects, establishing norms, incentives and restrictions to its use and occupation, aiming at environmental preservation and the sustainability of the city for present and future generations, observing the principle of prohibition of environmental retrogression”.
Art. 62. The general guidelines of the municipal environmental policy are:
XXII – gradually reduce the emission of pollutants harmful to health released into the air, soil, subsoil and water, in accordance with the Sectorial Development Plan Environmental, observing international protocols by Brazil and current legislation;
(…)
XXIV – evaluate and monitor the performance of the municipal environmental policy through indicators and other monitoring instruments;
(…)
XXVII – promote a study of urban noise management, ensuring health and social and environmental well-being, making possible times and places for events;
XXIV – to promote the environmental comfort of the city”;
91. As can be seen, the Municipality of Curitiba violates its own Master Plan by omitting to carry out a study on the management of urban noise and promotion of the acoustic environmental comfort of the city.
National Traffic Code
92. The city of Curitiba, by failing to exercise environmental police power and traffic police power over the control of noise emissions from the collective passenger transport system, violates the Traffic Code.
93. The Brazilian Traffic Code provides:
“The traffic bodies and entities belonging to the National Traffic System will give priority in their actions to the defense of life, including the preservation of health and the environment” (. Art. 1º, §5º).
94. And the Traffic Code prescribes:
“Art. 21. It is incumbent upon the road executive bodies and entities of the Union, the States, the Federal District, the Municipalities, within the scope of their circumscription”.
(…) XIII – inspect the emission level of pollutants and noise produced by motor vehicles or their cargo, in accordance with the provisions of art. 66, in addition to supporting specific actions by local environmental agencies, when requested”.
95. The National Traffic Code continues:
“Art. 24. It is incumbent upon the transit executive bodies of the Municipalities, within the scope of their circumscription:
(…) XV – promote and participate in traffic education and safety programs in accordance with the guidelines established by CONTRAN;
(…) XVI – plan and implement measures to reduce the circulation of vehicles and redirect traffic, with the objective of reducing the global emission of pollutants”;
(…) XX – inspect the emission level of pollutants and noise produced by motor vehicles or their cargo, in accordance with the provisions of art. 66, in addition to supporting the specific actions of the local environmental agency, when requested”.
96. And still on citizenship for the quality of traffic, the Traffic Code provides:
“Art. 72. Every citizen or civil entity has the right to request, in writing, the bodies or entities of the National Traffic System, signaling, inspection and implementation of safety equipment, as well as suggesting changes in rules, legislation and other matters relevant to this Code”.
97. And in the part related to vehicle safety:
“Art. 104. Vehicles in circulation will have their safety conditions, control of the emission of polluting gases and noise evaluated through inspection that will be mandatory, in the form and frequency established by CONTRAN for safety items and by CONAMA for the emission of polluting gases and noise”.
§5. The administrative measure of retention of vehicles that fail the safety inspection and the emission of polluting gases and noise will be applied .
(…)
“Art. 105. The following are mandatory vehicle equipment, among others to be established by CONTRAN:
(…)
V – device designed to control the emission of polluting gases and noise , according to standards established by CONTRAN” .
Curitiba law on noise, protection of well-being and public peace
98. Curitiba, by allowing excessive noise and environmental noise pollution in the public passenger transport system, violates municipal law n. 10.625/2002.
99. The law of Curitiba n. 10.625/2002, which provides for urban noise, protection of well-being and public peace, promotes noise containment. Note the following devices:
“Art. 1. It is forbidden to disturb the peace and well-being of the public with sounds, noises and vibrations that cause discomfort of any kind or that exceed the limits established in this law”.
100. And in art. 2, defines that noise pollution:
“emission of sound or noise that is, directly or indirectly, offensive or harmful to the health, safety and well-being of the community or violates the provisions set forth in this law”.
(..)
Art. 5th. The emission of sounds and noise by any industrial, commercial, service provider, religious, social, recreational and loading and unloading activities cannot exceed the sound pressure levels contained in Annex I, which is an integral part of this law”.
(..)
Art. 12. The activities potentially causing noise pollution, defined in their own regulation, depend on prior environmental licensing from the Municipal Secretary of the Environment, in order to obtain construction and operation permits ”.
Omission in environmental inspection and damage to environmental reputation from the city of Curitiba.
101. Failure to contain noise and control environmental noise pollution damages the city’s environmental reputation.
102. Now, several cities advertise their environmental sustainability.
103. Some go further to obtain environmental sustainability indicators based on international companies.
104. However, most of this ranking of environmental sustainability does not take into account the control of noise pollution in cities.
105. Noise and noise pollution cause degradation of environmental quality and put environmental health and public health at risk.
106. Now, the scientific literature and international organizations, such as OECD, WHO, UN, consider the quality of life factor, free of noise pollution, as an indicator of well-being.
107. Noise and noise pollution in cities are the symbol of malaise and risks of damage to health. For this reason, it is essential that cities provide a correct service to their citizens and account for their noise and noise control policy.
108. The right of citizens to information regarding public policies is guaranteed by the Constitution and by law. Currently, the value of the acoustic environmental sustainability of the city is a portrait of its sustainable development. However, some cities use “ greenwashing ” campaigns , that is, an ecological “makeup” in their environmental advertising. Thus, in order for citizens not to be deceived by public authorities and to be duly informed about environmental policy, a governance system is necessary. environmental anti-noise.
109. Also, citizens need to be trained and have accessible technologies so that they can effectively participate in environmental policy and noise pollution control.
110. Another point to be considered is the acoustic environmental education policy carried out in the city. This is a real factor in assessing environmental sustainability. Is there an acoustic educational policy in the city? Is there a culture of anti-noise technological innovation?
111. Now, there is all the education and culture in relation to the collection and separation of garbage in the cities because there is no education and the culture of warning of the risks of noise and noise pollution to health, well-being, work, rest and other fundamental rights affected by noise?
112. Why is there no culture to adopt measures to eliminate, reduce and isolate mechanical noise? Why don’t cities have the culture to ban machines, equipment, tools, services and infrastructure that pollute noise? Why are technological innovations not adopted to create noise maps in cities and environmental monitoring of noise pollution? Why is an anti-noise governance and environmental compliance program not adopted in the public and private sector?
113. Therefore, the environmental sustainability of a city must consider the containment measures to prevent and repress noise, noise pollution and acoustic pollutants. Currently, noise is an epidemic in cities.
114. For this reason, they must be treated as a risk factor for health and environmental degradation. There is no quality of life in the city, with noise and noise pollution. A city is environmentally unsustainable with noise and noise pollution.
115. Finally, we need to overcome the toxic and polluting status quo and move towards a new civilizing level in cities, free from mechanical noise. For clean, healthy and sustainable cities, it is fundamental that the environmental “branding” includes the themes of noise control and noise pollution.
Proposals for the city of Curitiba in containing environmental noise.
116. Curitiba should follow the guidance of the World Health Organization, the limit situation of 53 dB (fifty-three) decibels during the daytime and 45 dB (forty-five decibels) at night.
117. Curitiba should adopt the urban noise map as an indispensable tool in environmental management;
118. Curitiba should require, in the licensing of public passenger transport service providers, a prior study of the acoustic environmental impact on the residential areas through which buses circulate.
119. Curitiba should inform the population about the risks to public health, environmental health, occupational health, hearing health, mental health resulting from noise greater than 50 dB ( fifty decibels).
120. Curitiba should adopt an environmental education policy focused on acoustic environmental sustainability, educating citizens about the risks related to mechanical noise and noise pollution.
121. Curitiba should adopt a health policy to encourage the use of technological innovations to ensure environmental health, with real-time noise monitoring.
122. Curitiba should promote the institutional capacity building of its environmental agencies, through training and the use of technological innovations to guarantee environmental sound quality.
123. Curitiba should create the environmental municipal guard, attributing environmental functions to the municipal guard;
124. Curitiba should promote the training of its transit agencies regarding the inspection of noise from passenger transport buses, in partnership with environmental agencies.
125. Curitiba, in order to become an intelligent, clean, healthy and sustainable city, must free itself from the noise of passenger transport buses, encouraging industrial innovation, industrial quality, environmental innovation.
126. Curitiba should promote public passenger transport services that are clean, healthy and sustainable, free of noise and environmental noise pollution.
127. Curitiba should promote the improvement of the reach of the passenger transport system, in order to promote social inclusion.
128. Curitiba should promote the culture of innovation in public passenger transport, the culture of environmental health, the culture of acoustic environmental sustainability and the principle of acoustic efficiency of public transport buses.
129. Curitiba should adopt the acoustic cleaning service for environmental noise, a kind of acoustic environmental sanitation service.
130. Curitiba must promote better standards of comfort and acoustic well-being in public passenger transport buses.
Ericson M. Scorsim
Lawyer and Consultant in State Law. Doctor in Law from University of São Paulo. Founder of the Anti-Noise Environmental Monitor Association. Website: https://antirruidos.wordpress.com/ e Twitter: https://twitter.com/antirruidos . Author of the ebooks Anti-Noise Movements for Smart, Healthy and Sustainable Cities and Smart, Healthy and Sustainable Residential Buildings, published on Amazon , 2023.
[1]Demery Jur , Leroy. M. Bus rapid transit in Curitiba, Brazil . An information summary. Special Report no. 1, December 11, 2004. www.publictransit.us . According to the author : “It is important to note that bi-articulated buses of the type operated in Curitiba do not conform to the vehicle code in at least one US state – California – and therefore could not be operated on public streets”.
[2]Psychoacoustics is a branch of scientific knowledge that demonstrates the impact of noise on people’s psychic life and therefore on mental life. There are also other branches like bioacoustics .
[3]Pope Francis, Encyclical Letter Laudato Si on Care for our Common Home. São Paulo: Paulinas, 2022.
[4]See: House of Lords, Science and Technology Committee. 2nd report of session 2022-2023. The neglected pollutants: the effects of artificial light and noise on human health . And Foster, Russell. Life time. The new science of the body clock, and how it can revolutionize your sleep and health . London: Penguin .
[5]Blood pressure also has another unit of measurement. Healthy blood pressure is 12.8. Above this value, the pressure has high blood pressure, below this low the person is diagnosed with low blood pressure. The body temperature is also measured in degrees celsius , a healthy body is at 36 (thirty-six) celsius , above this value there is a fever. Below this value, the person is diagnosed with hypodermia . With the oxygen measurement, too. With a healthy index 100 (one hundred), up to 96. Less than 90, there is a risk to health.
[6]See: OECD, How’s life? 2020. Measuring well-being, 2020.
[7]European Commission , Assessment of potential health benefits of noise abatement measures in the EU, March 2021. See : Burden of diase from environmental noise. Quantification of healthy life year lost in Europe.
[8]Youtube channel of the São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office and Superior School of the São Paulo Public Prosecutor’s Office.
[9]See: Sarlet , Ingo Wolfang . E Fensterseifer , Principles of Environmental Law . São Paulo: Saraiva, 2018.
