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    Published: 2026-06-30
    Vol. 24 No. 1 (2026)

    Legal aspects of the road noise management policy in Poland

    Urszula Kałłaur
    The Opole Studies in Administration and Law
    Section: Articles
    DOI https://doi.org/10.25167/osap.6156

    Abstract

    As a result of an intensive urbanization process over the past several decades, noise pollution has become the second most significant environmental problem worldwide, after air pollution. In Poland, the principal threat to the acoustic climate is road traffic noise. Using a dogmatic-legal and formal-descriptive methodology, this article seeks to describe
    and analyse Polish road noise management policy, which consists of numerous legal and planning instruments. Since the shape of this policy is not described in any single act, presenting it in a consolidated manner may be useful for a further discussion on effectiveness of current solutions aimed at limiting this type of emission. The central thesis of this paper is that, for the time being, the Polish noise management policy lacks biding instruments to reduce noise levels. The available analyses on particular competences of appointed public organs demonstrate that their actions are focused on monitoring and collecting data, but they are not empowered to take hard law actions. The most significant shortcomings of the current legal framework are permissible noise levels marked much lower than WHO recommendations, the absence of an enforcement mechanism ensuring compliance with the recommendations of regional noise protection programmes, and the lack of competence of municipalities to adopt binding noise protection programmes.
    The paper concludes that the weaknesses of the Polish road traffic noise management policy reflect the broader limitations of European Union policy in this field, and that without amending Directive 2002/49/EC, it will be difficult for the EU to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal concerning a 30% reduction in the noise levels compared to 2017 levels.

     

     

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    Kałłaur, U. (2026). Legal aspects of the road noise management policy in Poland. The Opole Studies in Administration and Law, 24(1), 43–62. https://doi.org/10.25167/osap.6156

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