The Environmental Noise Directive

On 25 June 2002 the European Parliament and the Council adopted Directive 2002/49/EC relating to the Assessment and Management of Environmental Noise. The Aim of the Directive is to provide a common European basis for tackling the noise problem across the EU. The Directive requires Member States to:

• draw-up strategic noise maps for major agglomerations using harmonized noise indicators Lden (day-evening-night equivalent level) and Lnight (night equivalent level). While the Directive addresses specifically the noise from industrial activity sites located in the port areas, the issue of industrial noise has not received as much attention as the noise from transport (aviation, road, rail)
• inform and consult the public about noise exposure, its effects, and the measures considered to address noise
• draw up action plans to reduce noise where necessary and maintain environmental noise quality where it is good

The translation of EC Directives into National, Regional and Local legislation creates differences between the Member States and makes it difficult to keep a level playing field. Since the Environmental Noise Directive is quite recent and the first strategic noise maps are due for 30 June 2007 (but referring to the calendar year 2006), it presented a very good opportunity for an EcoPorts working group on Noise Management in Port Areas and a subsequent new project to be established and provide input for a standardized noise mapping system for European port areas. This objective was achieved, and the NoMEPorts European co-operation project established.

> click here for the Web-Site of the NoMEPorts project

A conference will take place in Civitaveccia in June 2007 to review the progress of the project and discuss how the work could also be applicable to other Industrial Noise areas or Environmental Issues.

Impact of the Directive on the port sector

The noise capacity of a port area sets the limits for permissible noise levels for individual companies. Port authorities in Europe have already been trying to find a balance between facilitating the needs of their tenants and making the most efficient use of the port area within the existing noise limits. For the Port Authorities, reduction of the port area noise capacity could result in reduced possibilities for new investors, and therefore affect their income from rent and spin-off activities in the port area. For the Port Industry it could mean that they would have to take costly measures for the reduction of their noise emissions. Furthermore, Port Authorities and Port Industry will come under close scrutiny from their neighbouring communities as the Directive foresees provision of detailed information to the public. A standard European Port Noise Mapping system could help to make the information provided to all the European citizens reliable and comparable.

Forthcoming Noise Legislative proposals

The European Commission will use reports by the Member States on the strategic noise maps and the action plans to produce a summary report for the European Parliament and the Council by 18 July 2009. This summary report will assess the need for further actions on environmental noise and make relevant proposals.

But at the same time the European Commission (EC) intends to submit new noise legislative proposals by 18 July 2006. This means that the results of the noise maps and action plans will not be taken into account in the new EC Legislation in 2006 because simply they will not be available by that time. The concerned parties (Port Authorities and Port Industries) can use an ECOPORTS Noise Project to establish a standard consultation scheme which will follow the new noise policy proposals and provide its input. Such a group could indicate that the Port Area can be self-regulated with agreements between the port-area stakeholders and without the need for more regulations of the European Commission for the Member States.

EU Noise Expert Network

The European Commission has created an EU noise Expert Network with the mission to provide assistance in the development and implementation of the European Noise policy. Part of this Network are:

a noise Steering Group comprising representatives of the interested stakeholders (Member States, local authorities, industry, NGOs); and

the working groups ‘Assessment of Exposure to Noise’ (AEN) and ‘Health and Socio-Economic Aspects’ (HSEA)

The Steering Group assisted in the development of the proposal for the Noise Directive and is also active on the work for the implementation of the Directive. There is currently no representative of the Port Sector in this group because the focus has been on the noise from transport (roads, railways, airports) and not on the industrial activity sites. One of the aims of the Noise Project will be to create more attention in the Steering Group about the issue of industrial noise in the port areas.

The Working Group ‘Assessment of Exposure to Noise’ (AEN) was formed in 2001 from the merger of the ‘Noise Mapping’ and ‘Computation and Measurement measures’ former working groups. The role of AEN is to assist the Commission and the Member States in the implementation of specific requirements of the Environmental Noise Directive. More specifically AEN, amongst others, assists the Commission in drawing up the guidelines on the interim computation assessment methods for the noise indicators, and
provides technical specifications for a study concerning the identification and development of a good practice in the field of noise mapping

The Working Group ‘Health and Socio-Economic Aspects’ (HSEA) was also formed in 2001 merger of the "dose & effect relations", "abatement" and "costs and benefits" former working groups. The role of HSEA includes:

• advise to the Commission on the development of dose-effect relations in particular with regard to industrial noise and to multi-exposure situations
• provide input to the Commission on the technical specifications for a study contract relating to the evaluation of the effectiveness of different noise mitigation measures
• make recommendations on costs and benefit analysis (CBA) in the field of noise policy and provide examples of best practice

The work of the AEN group in particular has been supportive to the NoMEPorts project.

If you have an example of a good practice solution in this area that you would like to share, please contact the EcoPorts Foundation Secretariat (foundation@ecoports.com).

> click here for the Web-Site of the NoMEPorts project
>click here to learn more about Noise related solutions