Directiva sobre ruido ambiental de la UE
In 2007, the major European noise sources were covered by strategic noise maps and action plans for:
- 162 cities with more than 250 000 inhabitants
- 82,575 km of major roads having more than 6 million vehicle passages a year
- 12,315 km of major railways with more than 60,000 train passages a year
- 76 major civil airports with more than 50,000 movements a year
More will follow by 2012. Similar programs are adopted by other countries.
On 21st May, 2002, the Council of Ministers formally approved the EU Environmental Noise Directive. Directive 2002/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25th June 2002 relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise is now being implemented in the EU Member States.
The Environmental Noise Directive is a direct result of the European Union's Noise Policy Green Paper from 1996. It covers transportation and industrial noise in the environment. The directive requires that noise maps and action plans (noise policy) be made for:
- Agglomerations with populations greater than 100 000
- Major roads with more than 3 000 000 vehicles a year (approximately 8 000 a day)
- Major railways with more than 30 000 trains a year
- Major civil airports with more than 50 000 operations year (approximately 135 day)
Noise maps show the LDEN (the LAeq where evening and night time levels are given a penalty of 5 and 10 dB, respectively) and Lnight (the night time LAeq) of each type of source (road, rail, industry, etc.) at a height of 4m over the ground. Aggregation of levels from different sources can be performed with a stated method. The European Union requires the making of maps of transportation and industrial noise using current models that comply with certain demands. The following methods are recommended:
- Industrial sites: ISO 9613
- Roads: NMPB-96 (the French method)
- Railways: RLM2 (the Dutch method)
- Airports: ECAC 29
Later, noise maps are made using harmonised techniques.
The general public must be informed and consulted during the process, and the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen will collate the result in a central European database. The first maps for major areas are required by mid 2007, and action plans required one year later. These activities are repeated at five yearly intervals and all defined areas are incorporated in the following round of deadlines starting in 2012. The above are minimum requirements and some countries are expected to go further and faster.
The text of the directive in English can be found on http://europa.eu.int/.
Brüel & Kjær fulfils the requirements of the directive with several solutions:
Noise mapping
... primarily requires calculation software such as Lima™ Type 7812 and Predictor™ Type 7810. However, monitoring and measurement equipment is required for the determination of industrial noise sources and is highly recommended for the verification and optimisation of the resulting maps. Our Noise Monitoring Terminal Type 3597 or Noise Monitoring Terminal Plus Type 3639E together with Noise Management Server Type 3642 are ideal for these tasks.
Action plans
... require assessments of noise reduction proposals and also require the same type of calculation software. In addition, the verification of noise insulation, reduction of noise at source and policing of noise levels also require monitoring and measurement equipment, for example, 2250 Handheld Analyzer and its range of application software.
Research
The European Noise Policy Green Paper has led to an increase in research into areas of environmental noise. These include research projects to produce common methodology to ensure the quality of the work behind the new noise policies and to provide a common foundation for comparative statistics. Research in Environmental Noise gives an overview of some of the areas of research into environmental noise, particularly that supported by the European Commission. An example of national research can be found in Effect of Road Noise on House Prices. This describes the findings of research by the Danish Department of the Environment (Miljøstyrelsen) into the effects of road noise on house prices.
