The Brussels Region is going to court, again, to summon the federal government to take action against the noise pollution surrounding the airport in Zaventem.
Since March, Brussels has been demanding periodic penalty payments from the federal government, based on a verdict by a Brussels Court.
For a period of eighteen months, the verdict prohibits any increase in the number of infringements of the 1999 Brussels decree imposing noise standards, for flights departing from the Kanaal and Ring routes, and for arrivals on runway 01. The reference year is 2017.
"We're not going to court for fun. Every month, the situation is worse than in 2017. We're facing €6 million in penalty payments. We can go up to €9 million, but apparently, that's not enough," said Brussels Minister for the Environment, Alain Maron, reports Bruzz. "The penalty payments have been imposed to bring about a change in behaviour, and to ensure that the people of Brussels, and everyone else, suffer less noise pollution, but they don't work," he added.
The new legal proceedings should "possibly lead to higher periodic penalty payments," but also to an impact study with alternative solutions, reports LN24.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
