CELEX: 51986PC0682
Language: en
Date: 1986-12-18
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE AMENDING DIRECTIVE 84/538/EEC ON THE APPROXIMATION OF THE LAWS OF THE MEMBER STATES RELATING TO THE PERMISSIBLE SOUND POWER LEVEL OF LAWNMOWERS

N o C 20/2                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                       27.1.87
                                                                 II
                                                         (Preparatory Acts)
                                                   COMMISSION
             Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 84/538/EEC on the approximation of the
                   laws of the Member States relating to the permissible sound power level of lawnmowers
                                                        COM(86) 682 final
                               (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 22 December 1986)
                                                           (87/C 20/02)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                             Whereas, in order to take account of these various
                                                                     requirements, Council Directive 84/538/EEC (J) should
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                be amended,
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100
thereof,
                                                                     HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                                                  Article 1
Having regard to the opinion of the European Par-
                                                                    Directive 84/538/EEC is hereby amended as follows:
liament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                    (1) Article 1 (1) is replaced by the following:
Social Committee,
                                                                         '1.     The purpose of this Directive is to restrict the
Whereas provisions to limit noise at operator's positions                permissible sound-power level of airborne noise
and methods of measuring airborne noise differ from                      emitted in the environment by lawnmowers and the
one Member State to another, which constitutes a barrier                 permissible sound-pressure level of airborne noise
to trade in such lawnmovers; whereas such provisions                     emitted to the operator's position by lawnmowers
should therefore be approximated;                                       with a cutting width exceeding 120 cm and to
                                                                         specify the methods for measuring these levels.'
Whereas Council Directive 79/113/EEC of 19 De-
cember 1978 on the approximation of the laws of the                 (2) Article 2 is replaced by the following:
Member States relating to the determination of the noise
emission of construction plant and equipment (*), as                      Article 2
amended by Directive 85/405/EEC (2), laid down in
particular the method to be used for determining                         Member States shall take all appropriate measures to
airborne noise emitted at the operator's position by a                   ensure that lawnmowers as defined in Article 1 may
lawnmower;                                                               not be placed on the market unless
Whereas, during the Council meeting on 18 and 19                        — their sound-power levels, as measured under the
December 1978, Ministers of the Environment stated                            conditions specified in Annex I, do not exceed
that technical procedures for the measurement of                              the permissible level for the cutting width of the
airborne noise emitted at the driving position must be                        mower as shown in the following tables:
included in the Annexes to the Directives relevant to
each equipment type;
                                                                                    Cutting width                Permissible
                                                                                  of lawnmower (L)           sound power level
                                                                                                               in dB (A)l pW
Whereas it is opportune to regroup in one Directive all
the technical procedures for determining the sound
                                                                                       L < 50 cm                      96
emissions of lawnmowers;
                                                                             50 cm < L < 120 cm                     100
                                                                                       L > 120 cm                   105
(•) OJ No L 33, 8. 2. 1979, p. 15.
(2) OJ No L 233, 30. 8. 1985, p. 9.                                 (») OJ No L 300, 19. 11. 1984, p. 171.
 ---pagebreak--- 27.1.87                                     Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 20/3
                                                           j
    — for lawnmowers with a cutting width exceeding                           The indication shall not be required on electrically-
         120 cm, the sound-pressure level of airborne                         powered lawnmowers with a cutting width of less
         noise, in dB (A), measured at the operator's                         than 30 cm.'
         position under the conditions specified in Annex
         I a, does not exceed the level of 92 dB(A).'                    (4) A new Annex la, the text of which is given in Annex
                                                                              I to this Directive, is inserted.
(3) Article 4 is replaced by the following:
                                                                         (5) Annex III is supplemented by the mark given in
     'Article 4                                                               Annex II to this Directive.
    Prior to being placed on the market, lawnmowers
                                                                                                      Article 2
    shall, in a clearly visible and durable fashion either
    directly or on a plate (such as a riveted or self-                   1.    The Member States shall bring into force the laws,
    adhesive plate) permanently attached to them, bear                   regulations and administrative provisions necessary to
    marks identifying the manufacturer, describing the                   comply with this Directive by 1 July 1987, and shall
    type and indicating the maximum sound power level                    forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
    expressed in dB (A)/l pW and for lawnmowers with
    a cutting width exceeding 120 cm, an indication of                   2.     Member States shall communicate to the
    the sound-pressure level expressed in dB (A)/20 uPa                  Commission the texts of the provisions of national law
    at the operator's position, guaranteed by the manu-                  which they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.
    facturer.
                                                                                                 "*' ^Article 3
    The models for these indications are set out in
    Annex III.                                                           This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
                                                                ANNEX I
                                                                 'Annex la
                          Method of measuring airborne noise emitted by lawnmowers at the operator's positions
               This method is applicable to lawnmowers with a cutting width exceeding 120 cm and having a seat
               attached in a suitable way to a structural member of the lawnmower. It lays down the test procedures for
               determining the sound pressure level at the operator's positions.
               These technical procedures comply with the requirements of Annex II to Directive 79/113/EEC, as
               amended by Directive 81/1051/EEC, and the provisions of that Annex apply to lawnmowers subject to the
               following amendments and additions:
               6.      Operator
                       An operator shall occupy the operator's position.
                6.2.1. Standing operator
                       This point shall not be taken into consideration.
                7.1.   General
                       The microphone shall be located as specified in Section 7.3.
                9.1.   General
                       The conditions required for installing and operating the lawnmower are laid down in point 6.2. of
                       Annex I.
                9.2.   Operation of a lawnmower with adjustable features.
                       This point shall not be taken into consideration.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 20/4                               Official J o u r n a l of the E u r o p e a n C o m m u n i t i e s       27.1.87
            10.2.2. Using the A-weighted sound pressure levels LpA
                    If a sound level meter is used, T is five seconds. The number of measurements is five.
                                                                  ANNEX      II
                              'Model for mark stating the sound pressure level at the operator's position
           All the dimensions given may be multiplied, for example, by V*, lh, 2, 3, 4, etc, on condition that the
           specifications laid down in Article 4 are adhered to.
           A tolerance of 20 % shall be allowed on all the above dimensions:'