On September 1st , Switzerland announced it was extending a deadline for meeting its targets for reducing noise from road traffic. A new amendment to a federal ordinance on noise pollution will give national and local authorities until 2015 to install noise-reduction barriers along highways and until 2018 to install similar barriers along other major roads. The barriers were originally due to be in place by March 2002, under the 1986 federal ordinance. However, only around 30 percent of the roads targeted for remedial measures had barriers installed by that date. A statement from the Swiss Federal Office for Environment, Forests, and Landscape said the delay was.
