An overview of the EU environmental noise directive

Tom Brodowski

The Directive in detail

Article 3 sets out definitions of the terms used in the Directive.

Article 4 deals with implementation of the Directive and responsibilities in general terms. Member states are to designate at the appropriate level the competent authorities and bodies responsible for implementing this Directive, including the authorities responsible for making and approving noise maps and action plans for agglomerations, major roads, major railways and major airports. The authority in the UK is the Department of Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).

Article 5 looks in some detail at the noise indicators, Lden and Lnight, and their application.
This makes the concession that until the use of common assessment methods for determining the indicators is made obligatory, existing national noise indicators and relevant data can be used and then converted into the standard indicators. For example, in the UK, noise traffic is calculated according to a memorandum "Calculation of Road Traffic Noise" (CTRN). But this provides an L10, 18h noise index that differs from the Leq measure required by the EU.

The day-evening-night level Lden in decibels (dB) is defined by the following formula:

in which: Lday is the A-weighted long-term average sound level as defined in ISO 1996-2:1987, determined over all the day periods (i.e. 07.00 to 19.00 local time) of the year.
Similarly, Levening over all the evening periods (i.e. 19.00 to 23.00 local time) of the year, and Lnight over all the night periods (i.e. 23.00 to 07.00 local time) of the year.

Leq is the average or "equivalent continuous" sound level that takes account of both the noisy activities and the quiet spells between. Thus it is a good measure of the long-term impact of noise. It can equally be used to describe the mean noise over short periods.

L10 is that level of sound which is exceeded for 10% of the time period being sampled. L10, 18-h is used in the UK for the assessment of road traffic noise according to CTRN.

"Limit value" means a value of Lden and Lnight and where appropriate Lday and Levening, as determined by member states, the exceeding of which causes competent authorities to consider or enforce mitigation measures; limit values may be different for different types of noise (road-, rail-, air-traffic noise, industrial noise, etc.), different surroundings and different noise sensitiveness of the populations; they may also be different for existing situations and for new situations.

Article 6 looks at common assessment methods for determining Lden and Lnight. These can be either computation or measurements at the assessment position, although for predictive work only computation is the only applicable method. If member states have national methods for determining the long-term noise indicators these may be used, provided that they are adapted to the Directive's standard definitions. In effect, this means that in the UK the evening has to be introduced as a separate period, and the average taken over an entire year.

Article 7 details the timetable for the initial and subsequent strategic noise mapping exercises and stipulates that the noise maps must satisfy the minimum requirements set out in Annex IV.

Article 8 defines the process of setting out the action plans and where they will be required. Notably, it points out that competent authorities will have the discretion to decide which measures will be included in the plans. However, these must address any priorities identified by breaches of limit values or by criteria chosen by individual member states, and be applied to priority areas established by the noise mapping exercise. Action plans will be reviewed at least five yearly, and can be revised as necessary if major developments occur.

Article 9 sets out standards for provision of information to the public, stipulating that information must be clear, comprehensible and accessible.

Article 10 goes into the detail of collection and publication of data and Article 11 looks at the review and reporting process to be undertaken by the EC after 18 July 2009. This report will include a review of the acoustic environment quality in the EU based on the data collected by member states.

Article 12 looks at how the annexes can be altered to take into account technical and scientific progress.

The remaining Articles 13 to 16 deal with various administrative and timetabling details including the 18 July 2004 deadline for bringing into force the laws, the regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the Directive.

Six annexes set out technical standards and recommendations.

What does it mean to the UK?

The directive will make the UK's approach to noise far more proactive. The final, harmonized standard for road traffic noise will probably not be based on the UK one, i.e. Calculation of Road Traffic Noise (CRTN), because it uses a different noise index from the rest of the member states and thus needs updating.

For the interim standard, Transport Research Laboratories (TRL) has produced correction factors that will allow data produced to the UK Standard's Leq parameter (18-hour L10) to be translated into the Directive's preferred 16-hour energy average. It is possible that the UK's rail standard, i.e. Calculation of Railway Noise 1995 (CRN), could be a potential framework for the Directive's harmonized equivalent.

" The official site of the directive can be viewed via the EU noise policy website. www.europa.eu.int/comm/environment/noise/home.htm

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