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STATUTORY RULES OF NORTHERN IRELAND


2006 No. 387

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

The Environmental Noise Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006

  Made 21st September 2006 
  Coming into operation 20th October 2006 


CONTENTS


PART 1

GENERAL
1. Citation, commencement and application
2. Interpretation
3. Identification of noise sources

PART 2

STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS

CHAPTER 1

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS
4. Strategic noise maps: general requirements
5. Interpretation

CHAPTER 2

STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS - MAJOR ROADS
6. Application
7. Competent authority
8. Duty to make, review and revise strategic noise maps: major roads

CHAPTER 3

STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS – MAJOR RAILWAYS
9. Application
10. Competent authority
11. Duty to make, review and revise strategic noise maps: major railways

CHAPTER 4

STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS – MAJOR AIRPORTS
12. Application
13. Competent authority
14. Duty to make, review and revise strategic noise maps: major airports

CHAPTER 5

STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS – INDUSTRY
15. Application
16. Competent authority
17. Duty to make, review and revise strategic noise maps: industry

CHAPTER 6

STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS – AGGLOMERATIONS
18. Application
19. Duty to make, review and revise strategic noise maps: agglomerations

CHAPTER 7

CONSOLIDATION OF STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS
20. Application
21. Competent authority
22. Duty to make, review and revise a consolidated strategic noise map: agglomerations

PART 3

ACTION PLANS

CHAPTER 1

GENERAL
23. Duty to publish criteria or limit values
24. Action plans: general requirements

CHAPTER 2

ACTION PLANS – ROADS
25. Application
26. Competent authority
27. Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: major roads
28. Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: agglomerations

CHAPTER 3

ACTION PLANS – RAILWAYS
29. Application
30. Competent authority
31. Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: major railways
32. Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: agglomerations

CHAPTER 4

ACTION PLANS – AIRPORTS
33. Application
34. Competent authority
35. Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: major airports
36. Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: agglomerations

CHAPTER 5

ACTION PLANS – INDUSTRY
37. Application
38. Competent authority
39. Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: industry

CHAPTER 6

QUIET AREAS
40. Identification of quiet areas

CHAPTER 7

CONSOLIDATED ACTION PLANS
41. Competent authority
42. Duty to draw up, review and revise a consolidated action plan: agglomerations

CHAPTER 8

ACTION PLANS – PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
43. Public participation

CHAPTER 9

IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTION PLANS
44. Implementation of action plans

PART 4

COOPERATION WITH EXTERNAL COMPETENT AUTHORITIES
45. Cooperation with external competent authorities

PART 5

ADOPTION OR APPROVAL OF STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS AND ACTION PLANS
46. Adoption or approval of strategic noise maps
47. Adoption or approval of action plans

PART 6

POWERS OF THE DEPARTMENT IN RELATION TO THE FUNCTIONS OF OTHER COMPETENT AUTHORITIES
48. Application
49. Powers
50. Recovery of expenses

PART 7

INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC
51. Competent authority
52. Availability of strategic noise maps and action plans

PART 8

GUIDANCE
53. Guidance

  SCHEDULE 1— MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR STRATEGIC NOISE MAPPING

  SCHEDULE 2— ASSESSMENT METHODS FOR THE NOISE INDICATORS

  SCHEDULE 3— SUPPLEMENTARY NOISE INDICATORS

  SCHEDULE 4— MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR ACTION PLANS

The Department of the Environment is a Department designated[1] for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972[2] in relation to measures relating to the assessment, management and control of environmental noise. The Department makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by that section.



PART 1

GENERAL

Citation, commencement and application
     1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Environmental Noise Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 and shall come into operation on 20 October 2006.

    (2) These Regulations apply to environmental noise to which humans are exposed in particular in built-up areas, in public parks or other quiet areas in an agglomeration, near schools, hospitals and other noise-sensitive buildings and areas.

    (3) These Regulations do not apply to noise that is caused by the exposed person himself, noise from domestic activities, noise created by neighbours, noise at work places or noise inside means of transport or due to military activities in military areas.

Interpretation
     2. —(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954[3] shall apply to these Regulations as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

    (2) Unless otherwise defined in these Regulations, words and terms used in these Regulations and in the Directive have the same meaning as in the Directive.

    (3) In these Regulations—

Identification of noise sources
     3. —(1) No later than 31st December 2006 the Department shall prepare maps identifying all—

    (2) No later than 31st December 2011 the Department shall prepare maps identifying all—

    (3) In any relevant year the Department shall prepare maps identifying all—

as necessary if it considers that the most recent maps produced pursuant to paragraph 2 are no longer appropriate.

    (4) In paragraph (3) "relevant year" means 2016 and every fifth year thereafter.

    (5) When discharging its duty under paragraph (1)(a) to identify first round agglomerations the Department shall identify areas—

    (6) When discharging its duty under paragraph (2)(a) or (3)(a) to identify agglomerations the Department shall identify areas—

    (7) When discharging its duty under paragraph (1)(b) to identify first round major roads the Department shall identify roads which—

    (8) When discharging its duty under paragraph (2)(b) or (3)(b) to identify major roads the Department shall identify roads which—

    (9) When discharging its duty under paragraph (1)(c) to identify first round major railways the Department shall identify railways which have more than 60,000 train passages per year.

    (10) When discharging its duty under paragraph (2)(c) or (3)(c) to identify major railways the Department shall identify railways which have more than 30,000 train passages per year.

    (11) When discharging its duty under paragraph (1)(d), (2)(d) or (3)(d) to identify major airports the Department shall identify civil airports which have more than 50,000 movements per year (a movement being a take-off or a landing), excluding those purely for training purposes on light
aircraft.

    (12) Certified copies of maps prepared pursuant to paragraphs (1), (2) and (3)—



PART 2

STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS



CHAPTER 1

GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS

Strategic noise maps: general requirements
     4. —(1) Any strategic noise map made or revised under this Part shall satisfy the applicable requirements in Schedule 1.

    (2) A competent authority under regulations 7, 10, 13, 16 or 21 shall apply—

when making or revising strategic noise maps under this Part.

    (3) The values of Lden, Lnight and the supplementary noise indicators shall be determined by means of the assessment methods set out in Schedule 2.

    (4) Subject to paragraph (5) existing noise indicators and related data shall be converted into Lden and Lnight.

    (5) The data referred to in paragraph (4) shall not be more than three years old.

Interpretation
     5. —(1) In this Part—

    (2) Any requirement in this Chapter to submit input data to a competent authority is a requirement to submit that input data in a format that—



CHAPTER 2

STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS - MAJOR ROADS

Application
     6. This Chapter applies to noise from major roads.

Competent authority
     7. The competent authority for this Chapter is the Department for Regional Development.

Duty to make, review and revise strategic
noise maps: major roads
     8. —(1) No later than 31 October 2006 the competent authority shall—

    (2) No later than 31 October 2011, and thereafter every five years, the competent authority shall—

    (3) No later than 31 March 2007 the competent authority shall—

    (4) No later than 31 March 2012, and thereafter every five years, the competent authority shall—

    (5) Whenever a major development occurs affecting the existing noise situation, the competent authority shall—

any strategic noise map made pursuant to paragraph (3) or (4) and adopted pursuant to regulation 46.

    (6) The competent authority shall submit any strategic noise map revised pursuant to paragraph (5)(b), with input data and metadata, to the Department within three working days of its revision.



CHAPTER 3

STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS – MAJOR RAILWAYS

Application
     9. This Chapter applies to noise from major railways.

Competent authority
     10. The competent authority for this Chapter is the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company.

Duty to make, review and revise strategic
noise maps: major railways
     11. —(1) No later than 31 October 2006 the competent authority shall—

    (2) No later than 31 October 2011, and thereafter every five years, the competent authority shall—

    (3) No later than 31 March 2007 the competent authority shall—

    (4) No later than 31 March 2012, and thereafter every five years, the competent authority shall—

    (5) Whenever a major development occurs affecting the existing noise situation, the competent authority shall—

any strategic noise map made pursuant to paragraph (3) or (4) and approved pursuant to regulation 46.

    (6) The competent authority shall submit any strategic noise map revised pursuant to paragraph (5)(b), with input data and metadata, to the Department within three working days of its revision.



CHAPTER 4

STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS – MAJOR AIRPORTS

Application
     12. This Chapter applies to noise from major airports.

Competent authority
     13. The competent authority for this Chapter is the airport operator.

Duty to make, review and revise strategic
noise maps: major airports
     14. —(1) No later than 31 October 2006, and thereafter every five years, the competent authority shall—

    (2) No later than 31 March 2007, and thereafter every five years, the competent authority shall—

    (3) Whenever a major development occurs affecting the existing noise situation, the competent authority shall—

any strategic noise map made pursuant to paragraph (2) and approved pursuant to regulation 46.

    (4) The competent authority shall submit any strategic noise map revised pursuant to paragraph (3)(b), with input data and metadata, to the Department within three working days of its revision.



CHAPTER 5

STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS – INDUSTRY

Application
     15. This Chapter applies to noise sources from industry.

Competent authority
     16. The competent authority for this Chapter is the Department.

Duty to make, review and revise strategic
noise maps: industry
     17. —(1) No later than 31 December 2006 the competent authority shall identify all industrial noise sources within first round agglomerations in the preceding calendar year.

    (2) No later than 31 December 2011, and thereafter every five years, the competent authority shall identify all industrial noise sources within agglomerations.

    (3) No later than 30 June 2007 the competent authority shall make a strategic noise map showing the situation in the preceding calendar year for industrial noise sources within first round agglomerations.

    (4) No later than 30 June 2012, and thereafter every five years, the competent authority shall make a strategic noise map showing the situation in the preceding calendar year for industrial noise sources within agglomerations.

    (5) Whenever a major development occurs affecting the existing noise situation, the competent authority shall—

any strategic noise map made pursuant to paragraph (3) or (4).



CHAPTER 6

STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS – AGGLOMERATIONS

Application
     18. This Chapter applies to noise from sources within agglomerations.

Duty to make, review and revise strategic noise maps: agglomerations
     19. —(1) No later than 31 March 2007 the competent authority under regulation 7 shall—

    (2) No later than 31 March 2012, and thereafter every five years, the competent authority under regulation 7 shall—

    (3) No later than 31 March 2007 the competent authority under regulation 10 shall—

    (4) No later than 31 March 2012, and thereafter every five years, the competent authority under regulation 10 shall—

    (5) No later than 31 October 2006, and thereafter every five years, an airport operator shall—

    (6) No later than 31 March 2007 the competent authority under paragraph (5) shall—

    (7) No later than 31 March 2012, and thereafter every five years, the competent authority under regulation 13 shall—

    (8) Whenever a major development occurs affecting the existing noise situation, the competent authority under regulation 7, 10, 13,16 or paragraph (5) shall—

any strategic noise map made pursuant to paragraph (1), (2), (3), (4), (6) or (7) and adopted or approved pursuant to regulation 46.

    (9) Any strategic noise map revised pursuant to paragraph (8)(b) shall be submitted with input data and metadata to the Department within three working days of its revision.



CHAPTER 7

CONSOLIDATION OF STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS

Application
     20. This Chapter applies to noise from sources within agglomerations.

Competent authority
     21. The competent authority for this Chapter is the Department.

Duty to make, review and revise a consolidated strategic
noise map: agglomerations
     22. No later than the 30 June 2007, and thereafter every five years, the competent authority shall make a consolidated strategic noise map for all noise sources within the agglomeration, using the strategic noise maps submitted under regulations 17 and 19.



PART 3

ACTION PLANS



CHAPTER 1

GENERAL

Duty to publish criteria or limit values
     23. No later than 31 October 2007 the Department shall publish guidance setting out limit values or other criteria for the identification of priorities for action plans.

Action plans: general requirements
    
24. —(1) Any action plan drawn up or revised under this Part shall—

    (2) Paragraph (3) applies to—

drawn up under this Part for an agglomeration.

    (3) An action plan and any revision of an action plan shall be based upon and apply in particular to the most important areas as established by—



CHAPTER 2

ACTION PLANS – ROADS

Application
     25. This Chapter applies to noise from roads

Competent authority
     26. The competent authority for this Chapter is the Department for Regional Development.

Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: major roads
    
27. —(1) No later than 30 April 2008 the competent authority shall—

    (2) No later than 30 April 2013 the competent authority shall—

    (3) Paragraph (4) applies—

    (4) The competent authority shall—

the action plan.

    (5) An action plan revised pursuant to paragraph (4)(b) shall be submitted to the Department within three working days of its revision.

Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: agglomerations
     28. —(1) No later than 30 April 2008 the competent authority shall—

    (2) No later than 30 April 2013 the competent authority shall

    (3) Paragraph (4) applies—

    (4) The competent authority shall—

the action plan.

    (5) An action plan revised pursuant to paragraph (4)(b) shall be submitted to the Department within three working days of its revision.



CHAPTER 3

ACTION PLANS – RAILWAYS

Application
     29. This Chapter applies to noise from railways

Competent authority
     30. The competent authority for this Chapter is the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company.

Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: major railways
    
31. —(1) No later than 30 April 2008 the competent authority shall—

    (2) No later than 30 April 2013 the competent authority shall—

    (3) Paragraph (4) applies—

    (4) The competent authority shall—

the action plan.

    (5) An action plan revised pursuant to paragraph (4)(b) shall be submitted to the Department within three working days of its revision.

Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: agglomerations
     32. —(1) No later than 30 April 2008 the competent authority shall—

    (2) No later than 30 April 2013 the competent authority shall—

    (3) Paragraph (4) applies—

    (4) The competent authority shall—

the action plan.

    (5) An action plan revised pursuant to paragraph (4)(b) shall be submitted to the Department within three working days of its revision.



CHAPTER 4

ACTION PLANS – AIRPORTS

Application
     33. This Chapter applies to noise from airports

Competent authority
     34. The competent authority for this Chapter is the airport operator.

Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: major airports
    
35. —(1) No later than 30 April 2008 the competent authority shall—

    (2) Paragraph (3) applies—

    (3) The competent authority shall—

the action plan.

    (4) An action plan revised pursuant to paragraph (3)(b) shall be submitted to the Department within three working days of its revision.

Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: agglomerations
     36. —(1) No later than 30 April 2008 the competent authority shall—

    (2) No later than 30 April 2013 the competent authority shall

    (3) Paragraph (4) applies—

    (4) The competent authority shall—

the action plan.

    (5) An action plan revised pursuant to paragraph (4)(b) shall be submitted to the Department within three working days of its revision.



CHAPTER 5

ACTION PLANS – INDUSTRY

Application
     37. This Chapter refers to noise sources from industry.

Competent authority
     38. The competent authority for this Chapter is the Department.

Duty to draw up, review and revise action plans: industry
    
39. —(1) No later than 18 July 2008 the competent authority shall draw up an action plan for industrial noise sources within any relevant first round agglomeration.

    (2) No later than 18 July 2013 the competent authority shall draw up an action plan for industrial noise sources within any relevant agglomeration.

    (3) Paragraph (4) applies—

    (4) The competent authority shall—

the action plan.



CHAPTER 6

QUIET AREAS

Identification of quiet areas
     40. —(1) No later than 30 September 2007 the Department shall prepare maps identifying quiet areas in agglomerations.

    (2) Paragraph (3) applies if the Department considers that the most recent maps produced pursuant to this regulation are no longer appropriate.

    (3) No later than 30 September in any relevant year the Department shall, if it considers it necessary, prepare maps identifying quiet areas in agglomerations.

    (4) In paragraph (3) "relevant year" means 2012 and every fifth year thereafter.

    (5) Certified copies of maps prepared pursuant to paragraphs (1) and (3)—



CHAPTER 7

CONSOLIDATED ACTION PLANS

Competent authority
    
41. The competent authority for this Chapter is the Department.

Duty to draw up, review and revise a consolidated action plan: agglomerations
    
42. No later than the 18 July 2008, and thereafter every five years, the competent authority shall draw up a consolidated action plan for all noise within the agglomerations, using the action plans submitted under regulations 28, 32, 36 and 39.



CHAPTER 8

ACTION PLANS – PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

Public participation
     43. —(1) In preparing and revising action plans the competent authorities under regulations 26, 30, 34 and 38 shall ensure that—



CHAPTER 9

IMPLEMENTATION OF ACTION PLANS

Implementation of action plans
    
44. —(1) Where an action plan or a revision of an action plan—

that public authority shall treat the action plan as its policy insofar as it relates to that action.

    (2) A public authority may depart from any policy mentioned in paragraph (1) if—

    (3) In this regulation "public authority" includes any person who exercises functions of a public nature.



PART 4

COOPERATION WITH EXTERNAL COMPETENT AUTHORITIES

Cooperation with external competent authorities
    
45. —(1) When necessary in order to meet its obligations under these Regulations, a competent authority shall use all reasonable endeavours to secure the cooperation of an external competent authority.

    (2) A competent authority—

shall cooperate with that external competent authority.

    (3) In this Part "external competent authority" means a competent authority in the Republic of Ireland, England, Scotland or Wales designated for the purposes of Article 4 of the Directive.



PART 5

ADOPTION OR APPROVAL OF STRATEGIC NOISE MAPS AND ACTION PLANS

Adoption or approval of strategic noise maps
     46. —(1) If the Department considers that a strategic noise map—

meets the requirements of regulation 4, it shall approve the map.

    (2) If the Department considers that a strategic noise map submitted to it pursuant to regulation 11, or 14 or paragraph (6) does not meet the requirements of regulation 4 it may—

    (3) If the Department considers that a strategic noise map—

meets the requirements of regulation 4, the Department shall adopt the map.

    (4) If the Department considers that a strategic noise map submitted to it pursuant to regulation 8, or 19 or paragraph (6) does not meet the requirements of regulation 4 it may—

    (5) If a strategic noise map is rejected pursuant to paragraph (2)(b) or (4)(b) the Department shall notify the competent authority that submitted it of—

    (6) The recipient of a notification under paragraph (5) shall submit the revised strategic noise map to the Department by the date specified in the notification.

    (7) Paragraphs (1) to (6) apply to a revised strategic noise map as they apply to a strategic noise map submitted pursuant to regulation 8, 11, 14, or 19.

    (8) If the Department amends—

it shall take such steps as it considers appropriate to ensure that the map complies with the requirements of regulation 4 and shall notify the competent authority of any amendments made.

Adoption or approval of action plans
     47. —(1) If the Department considers that an action plan—

meets the requirements of regulation 24, it shall approve the action plan.

    (2) If the Department considers that an action plan—

meets the requirements of regulation 24, it shall adopt the action plan.

    (3) Paragraph (4) applies if—

    (4) Where this paragraph applies the Department shall—

    (5) If an action plan is rejected pursuant to paragraph (4)(b) the Department shall notify the authority that submitted it of—

    (6) The recipient of a notification under paragraph (5) shall submit the revised action plan to the Department by the date specified in the notification.

    (7) Paragraphs (1) to (6) apply to a revised action plan as they apply to an action plan submitted pursuant to regulation 27(1)(b), 27(2)(b), 27(5), 28(1)(b), 28(2)(b), 28(5), 31(1)(b), 31(2)(b), 31(5), 32(1)(b), 32(2)(b), 32(5), 35(1)(b), 35(4), 36(1)(b), 36(2)(b) or 36(5).

    (8) If the Department amends—

it shall take such steps as it considers appropriate to ensure that the action plan complies with the requirements of Regulation 24 and notify the competent authority of any amendments made.



PART 6

POWERS OF THE DEPARTMENT IN RELATION TO THE FUNCTIONS OF OTHER COMPETENT AUTHORITIES

Application
    
48. This Part does not apply to any functions under these Regulations for which the Department is the competent authority.

Powers
    
49. —(1) The Department may at any time require a competent authority to provide information in relation to its functions under these Regulations.

    (2) A request for information pursuant to paragraph (1)—

    (3) If an authority receives a request pursuant to paragraph (1) it shall respond—

    (4) Paragraph (5) applies where—

    (5) The Department may exercise such of the functions of the competent authority, as it considers appropriate.

Recovery of expenses
    
50. —(1) Where the Department incurs expenses pursuant to—

it may recover those expenses from the relevant competent authority as a civil debt.

    (2) In this regulation "relevant competent authority" means—



PART 7

INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC

Competent authority
     51. The competent authority for this Part is the Department.

Availability of strategic
noise maps and action plans
     52. —(1) Any—

shall include prominently displayed wording identifying it as a draft subject to adoption or approval by the Department.

    (2) Any—

shall be published by the competent authority in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (3).

    (3) A strategic noise map or an action plan published pursuant to paragraph (2)—



PART 8

GUIDANCE

Guidance
     53. A competent authority, in exercising any of its functions under these Regulations, shall have regard to any guidance issued by the Department under this regulation.



Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of the Environment on


21st September 2006

L.S.


Ian T. Maye
A Senior Officer of the Department of the Environment


SCHEDULE 1
regulations 4 and 5


MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR STRATEGIC NOISE MAPPING


Interpretation
     1. In this Schedule—

to display the information described in paragraphs 1.5, 1.6, 1.7, 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7 of Annex VI of the Directive;

General requirements for strategic noise maps
     2. —(1) Strategic noise maps and their revisions shall—

    (2) In applying paragraph (1)(a) any reference in Annex IV of the Directive to—

Requirements for strategic noise maps for agglomerations
     3. —(1) This paragraph applies only to—

    (2) Strategic noise maps shall—

Requirements for strategic noise maps for major roads, major railways and major airports
     4. —(1) This paragraph applies only to—

    (2) Strategic noise maps shall—



SCHEDULE 2
regulation 4


ASSESSMENT METHODS FOR THE NOISE INDICATORS


Introduction
     5. —(1) The values of Lden, Lnight and the supplementary noise indicators shall be determined by computation (at the assessment position).

    (2) In this Schedule—

Assessment method for road traffic noise indicators
     6. For road traffic noise indicators the assessment method "Calculation of road traffic noise" (Department of Transport, 7 June 1988, HMSO)[10] shall be used, adapted using the report "Method for converting the UK traffic noise index LA10,18h to EU noise indices for road noise mapping" (DEFRA, 24 January 2006)[11].

Assessment method for railway noise indicators
     7. For railway noise indicators the assessment methods—

shall be used, adapted as shown in Figure 6.5 of the report "Rail and wheel roughness – implications for noise mapping based on the Calculation of Railway Noise procedures" (DEFRA March 2004)[14].

Assessment methods for aircraft noise indicators
     8. For aircraft noise indicators the assessment method "Report on Standard Method of Computing Noise Contours around Civil Airports" (Second Edition, European Civil Aviation Conference, 2–3 July 1997)[15] shall be used in accordance with paragraph 2.4 of the Annex in the Recommendation.

Assessment methods for industrial noise indicators and port noise indicators
     9. —(1) For industrial noise indicators and port noise indicators the propagation assessment method described in "ISO 9613-2:1996 Acoustics – Attenuation of sound during propagation outdoors – Part 2: General method of Calculation" (International Standards Organisation, 1996)[16] shall be used in accordance with paragraph 2.5 of the Annex in the Recommendation.

    (2) Suitable noise emission data (input data) for "ISO 9613-2:1996 Acoustics – Attenuation of sound during propagation outdoors – Part 2: General method of calculation" can be obtained either from measurements carried out in accordance with one of the following methods:

or by using Toolkit 10 of the "Good Practice Guide for Strategic Noise Mapping and the Production of Associated Data on Noise Exposure Version 2, Position Paper Final Draft" (European Commission Working Group Assessment of Exposure to Noise, 13 January 2006)[20].



SCHEDULE 3
regulation 2


SUPPLEMENTARY NOISE INDICATORS


Interpretation
     10. In this Schedule—

Road traffic noise
     11. The supplementary noise indicators in relation to road traffic noise are—

Railway noise
     12. The supplementary noise indicators in relation to railway noise are—

Aircraft noise
     13. The supplementary noise indicators in relation to aircraft noise are—

Industrial noise and port noise
     14. The supplementary noise indicators in relation to industrial noise and port noise are—



SCHEDULE 4
regulation 24


MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR ACTION PLANS


General
     15. —(1) An action plan shall—

    (2) In applying paragraph (1) any reference in Annex V of the Directive to—



EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)


These Regulations implement 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 (O.J. No. L 189, 18.07.2002, p. 12) (the "Directive").They extend to Northern Ireland only.

Strategic noise maps
The making of strategic noise maps will occur in two rounds, the first in 2007 and the second in 2012. In the second round a larger number of the same type of noise sources will have to be mapped than in the first round. Subsequently strategic noise maps will have to be made every five years.

Regulation 3 requires the Department to identify the noise sources for which strategic noise maps shall be made.

Chapter 2 of Part 2 names the Department for Regional Development as the competent authority responsible for the preparation of strategic noise maps for major roads.

Chapter 3 of Part 2 names the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company as the competent authority responsible for the preparation of strategic noise maps for major railways.

Chapter 4 of Part 2 names the airport operators as the competent authorities responsible for the preparation of strategic noise maps for major airports.

Chapter 5 of Part 2 names the Department of the Environment as the competent authority responsible for the preparation of noise maps for industrial noise sources within agglomerations.

Chapter 6 of Part 2 requires the competent authorities from regulations 7, 10, 13, 16 and 19(5) to make strategic noise maps showing the situation in the preceding calendar year for any agglomerations, and names the airport operators as the competent authorities responsible for the preparation of strategic noise maps for airports within agglomerations.

Chapter 7 of Part 2 requires the Department to make a consolidated strategic noise map for all sources within agglomerations.

From time to time, and whenever a major development occurs, the competent authorities shall review (and if necessary, revise) strategic noise maps. Once made or revised, the competent authorities, for sources other than industry, will have to submit all strategic noise maps to the Department for adoption or approval.

All strategic noise maps shall meet the minimum requirements set out in regulation 4.

Regulation 4 and Schedule 3 specify which noise indicators and supplementary noise indicators shall be used in making the strategic noise maps. Schedule 2 sets out the assessment methods to be used in calculating the values of noise indicators. Different methods are specified for each noise source.

Regulation 40 requires the Department to identify quiet areas in agglomerations.

Action plans
Action plans shall be drawn up in two rounds (the first in 2008 and the second in 2013) following the two rounds of strategic noise maps upon which the action plans will be based.

Regulation 23 requires the Department to publish guidance on how the priorities in action plans should be identified.

Regulation 24 sets out the general requirements for action plans.

Regulations 27 and 28 require the Department for Regional Development to draw up action plans for places near to major roads and roads within agglomerations. The Department for Regional Development shall review (and revise, if necessary) the action plans every five years, or sooner if a major development occurs.

Regulations 31 and 32 require the Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company to draw up action plans for places near to major railways and places near to railways within agglomerations. The Northern Ireland Transport Holding Company shall review (and revise, if necessary) the action plans every five years, or sooner if a major development occurs.

Regulations 35 and 36 require airport operators to draw up action plans for places near to major airports and airports within agglomerations. The airport operators shall review (and revise, if necessary) the action plans every five years, or sooner if a major development occurs.

Regulation 39 requires the Department of the Environment to draw up action plans for industrial activity sites, including ports within agglomerations. The Department for the Environment shall review (and revise, if necessary) the action plans every five years, or sooner if a major development occurs.

Regulation 42 requires the Department of the Environment to draw up a consolidated action plan for all sources within agglomerations, using the action plans submitted under regulations 28, 32, and 36.

Regulation 43 specifies the public participation required during the preparation and revision of action plans.

Regulation 44 requires public authorities to treat action plans as policy insofar as the action plan identifies them as being responsible for a particular action. Public authorities may depart from such policies in specified circumstances.

Other provisions
Regulation 45 requires competent authorities in Northern Ireland to cooperate with their counterparts in the Republic of Ireland, England, Scotland or Wales when necessary to do so in order to meet obligations under these Regulations or the Directive.

Regulations 46 and 47 set out the mechanism by which the Department adopts and approves strategic noise maps and action plans respectively.

Regulation 49 provides the Department with the power to require competent authorities to provide information in relation to their obligations under the Regulations or to step in and carry out the functions of competent authorities under specified circumstances.

Regulation 50 gives the Department power to reclaim certain expenses from competent authorities.

Regulation 52 sets out requirements for the publication of strategic noise maps and action plans.

Regulation 53 requires competent authorities to have regard to any guidance published by the Department.

A Regulatory Impact Assessment in relation to these Regulations has been placed in the library of the Northern Ireland Assembly and copies can be obtained from Environmental Policy Division, 20-24 Donegall Street, Belfast BT1 2GP.


Notes:

[1] S.I. 2003/2901back

[2] 1972 c. 68back

[3] 1954 c. 33 (N.I.)back

[4] S.I. 1993/3160 (N.I. 15)back

[5] ISBN 0-580-42224-0back

[6] O.J. No. L 189, 18.07.2002, p. 12back

[7] S.R. 2003 No. 46back

[8] SPIRE Programme, Product Reference: SIP – DP – 011back

[9] O.J. No. L 212, 22.8.2003, p. 49.back

[10] ISBN 0115508473.back

[11] Prepared by TRL Limited and Casella Stanger, Document Reference st/05/91/AGG04442.back

[12] ISBN 0115517545back

[13] ISBN 0115518738.back

[14] Prepared by AEA Technology plc, Document Reference: AEATR-PC&E-2003-002.back

[15] Adopted by the Twenty-First Plenary Session of ECAC, Document Reference: ECAC.CEAC Doc. 29.back

[16] International Organization for Standardization (http://www.iso.ch)back

[17] Btitish Standards Institute (http://www.standardsdirect.org/standards/standards3/StandardsCatalogue24_view_23347.html)back

[18] British Standards Institute (http://www.standardsdirect.org/standards/standards2/StandardsCatalogue24_view_19606.html)back

[19] Btirish Standards Institute (http://www.standardsdirect.org/standards/standards2/StandardsCatalogue24_view_19608.html)back

[20] European Commission Working Group Assessment of Exposure to Noise (http;//www.defra.gov.uk/environment/noise/mapping/exposure/pdf/exposuredata-guide.pdf)back



ISBN 0 337 96651 6


 © Crown copyright 2006

Prepared 28 September 2006


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