Upgrading of noise-burdened residential areas along traffic routes

Facts

On June 24, 1993, the municipal council of Frenkendorf approved the Noise Sensitivity Levels Plan as part of the Zoning Plan for Settlements. This plan assigned the residential and commercial areas, with the exception of the village center, the village center protection zone, and a few individual parcels, to Sensitivity Level II. A classification of the noise-burdened areas along the railway line and Baslerstrasse to Level III was deliberately avoided, as the protection of the residents from the adverse effects of noise was given greater weight than the economic interests of the Federal Railways or the municipal council as the road owner.

The Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) filed an objection and demanded that at least the first construction depth along the SBB line throughout the municipal area, including the residential zones, be assigned to Sensitivity Level III. The Government Council of the Canton of Basel-Landschaft approved the decision of the Frenkendorf municipal assembly regarding the Noise Sensitivity Levels Plan, with the exception of the areas along the railway line that had been assigned to Noise Sensitivity Level II.

The municipal council of Frenkendorf has appealed the decision of the Government Council both by administrative court appeal and by constitutional appeal. The Federal Court does not enter into the constitutional appeal; the administrative court appeal is dismissed.

Considerations

The Federal Court considers the upgrading carried out by the Government Council to be tenable and appropriate. Since a rezoning of the parcels in question was apparently not possible and the exceedance of the immission limit values is so significant that the obligation to remediate remains despite the upgrading, it appears unrealistic in view of the circumstances described by the SBB that such extensive remediation measures would be carried out by the railway in the foreseeable future that the immission limit value of Sensitivity Level II would be complied with. Under these circumstances, the assignment of the area in question to Sensitivity Level III is compatible with federal law.

The upgrading also does not violate cantonal law. The area assigned to Sensitivity Level III by the Government Council practically only includes one construction depth along the tracks and has thus been kept as small as possible in accordance with § 12 para. 2 USG BL. Furthermore, an appropriate, punctual…