EHJ September 2002, pages 280-281 Tina Garrity looks at the new EU directive to assess and manage environmental noise

The quest to define a common approach to environmental noise across the EU and to begin reducing noise levels in some of the Community's largest conurbations has now been given the force of the law with the adoption of the much debated directive on the assessment and management of environmental noise. The directive does not go as far as some in the green movement would have liked, but members of the European Parliament were able to secure a number of amendments designed to strengthen the directive and to provide a basis for future noise directives in specific areas.

The directive requires member states to draw up noise maps for large agglomerations, busy roads/railways and large airports within their territories and to develop action plans to deal with noise levels in those areas. It provides for the development and use of common noise indicators and requires the public to be fully involved in the implementation of the directive.

NOISE MAPPING
By 30 June 2007, strategic noise maps showing the situation in the preceding calendar year must be drawn up for all agglomerations with over 250,000 inhabitants, and for all major roads with over 6 million vehicle passages a year, major railways with over 60,000 train passages a year, and major civil airports. This will be extended by 30 June 2012 to cover all agglomerations, major roads and railways.

An agglomeration is defined as an area having a population in excess of 100,000 in a density considered by the member state to make it an urbanised area. A major road is one with over 3 million vehicle passages a year and a major railway is one with over 30,000 train passages per year. For airports, the term "major" is defined as over 50,000 movements a year, excluding training flights on light aircraft. Minimum requirements for the noise maps are laid down in an annex to the directive. All maps must be reviewed, and revised if necessary, at least every five years after their initial preparation.

The noise indicators Lden and Lnight are to be used for the noise mapping, their values being determined by means of assessment methods set out in Annex II of the directive. Until this occurs, member states may use existing national indicators and related data which should be converted into the required indicators. Data used must not be more than three years old. Other indicators may be used for acoustical planning and noise zoning.

NOISE ACTION PLANS
Member states have until 18 July 2008 to draw up action plans for the management of noise in places near major roads which have more than 6 million vehicle passages a year, major railways which have more than 60,000 train passages per year and major airports. The same applies to agglomerations with over 250,000 inhabitants. Here the plans must also aim to protect quiet areas against noise increases.

The measures to be adopted under the plans are left to the discretion of the competent authorities but should notably address priorities, which may be identified by the exceeding of any relevant limit value or by other criteria chosen by the member states. They should also apply in particular to the most important areas established by strategic noise mapping. Action plans to address these priorities are required by 18 July 2013. As with the noise maps, the minimum criteria for the actions plans are set out in an annex. Reviews must be conducted at least every five years after initial approval or whenever a major development occurs affecting the existing noise situation. The public must be consulted about proposals for action plans and given an opportunity to participate in their preparation and review.

Both the noise maps and the action plans must be disseminated to the public. The information contained in them must be clear, comprehensible and accessible, and a summary setting out the main points must also be provided. The Commission, for its part, is tasked with collecting information from the member states' noise maps and action plans and producing a summary report. By 18 January 2004, it must publish a report containing a review of existing Community environmental noise measures. By 18 July 2006, the Commission must produce legislative proposals for the reduction of noise from major sources, in particular road and rail vehicles and infrastructure, outdoor and industrial equipment and mobile machinery.
The Commission is not happy with this requirement, which was inserted following conciliation between the Council and the Parliament. In a declaration appended to the directive, it states that legislation should be made on the basis of robust evidence and that it reserves the right to decide as and when it would be appropriate to present any such proposals. It does not accept the imposition of a fixed deadline.

In the longer term, the Commission must report to the Council and the Parliament by 18 July 2009 on the implementation of the directive. This report will assess the need for further EU action and, if appropriate, propose strategies on the reduction of the number of people harmfully affected by environmental noise taking into account different climates and cultures. It will also look at additional measures for noise reduction from specific sources such as outdoor equipment, transport infrastructure/means and certain categories of industrial activity. Also mentioned is a possible strategy on the protection of quiet areas in open country. The implementation date for the directive is 18 July 2004. An initial consultation on the directive's requirements was contained within the Government's December 2001 consultation paper "Towards a national ambient noise strategy".1

Directive 2002/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 June 2002 relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise. OJ L189. 18 July 2002, pp 12-25.
Reference 1.http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/consult/noiseambient/pdf/ambientnoise.pdf

OTHER NEWS
VIBRATION DIRECTIVE
The draft directive on minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from vibration (EHJ, December 2001, pages 386-387) has now been adopted. It is the sixteenth directive to be issued under the 1989 framework directive on health and safety at work and is the first of a series of directives to be issued under the overall banner of the directive on physical agents. Included in the directive is a requirement for employers to assess and, if necessary, measure the levels of mechanical vibration to which workers are exposed at suitable intervals. It covers both hand-arm and whole-body vibration and sets out daily exposure limit values and action values, standardised to an eight-hour reference period for both. It sets out the areas employers must pay attention to when conducting their assessments and requires that if the exposure action values expressed in the directive are exceeded, they must establish and implement a programme of exposure reduction measures. Directive 2002/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 June 2002 on the minimum health and safety requirements regarding the exposure of workers to the risks arising from physical agents (vibration) (16th individual Directive within the meaning of Article 16(1) of Directive 89/391/EEC). OJ L 177. 6 July 2002, pp 13-20.