3 Objectives of the END
3.1 Purpose and Scope
In 2002, the European Union ( EU) adopted a Directive relating to the Assessment and Management of Environmental Noise. It represented the first significant attempt at establishing a common approach to deal with the harmful effects of environmental noise.
The main objectives of the Directive are set out in Section 1.1. For the first round of mapping the objectives as follows;
- To monitor environmental noise by requiring competent authorities in Member States to prepare 'strategic noise maps' for the following:-.
- all major roads with more than 6 million vehicle passages per year.
- railways with more than 60,000 passages per year.
- Major airports.
- All agglomerations with more than 250,000 inhabitants
As stated in Section 2.2 of this document the END relates only to noise sources arising from, road, rail, air transportation, and ports and industry, within agglomerations. In Scotland, neighbourhood noise is dealt with in other legislation ( see Section 2.2 above).
The END is a complex Directive relying heavily on the collection of data and computer modelling technology to support the development of noise maps and Action Plans. It is important to acknowledge that as computer processing power develops, the manner in which data is collected and managed by different organisations will also evolve. This development is likely to continue for some time. This means that an approach appropriate today, for preparing noise maps and Action Plans, may not be so in the future, when more powerful processing may be available.
The Directive requires a strategic approach for noise mapping and defines the data requirements that should be used to derive noise maps. This means that the results from the mapping phase of END should be viewed as a good starting point for those bodies involved in noise regulation and control of environmental noise.
At a European level, there will also be developments over the longer term. The Commission intends to establish common assessment methods in due course, although these will not be available for the first round of noise mapping. Once these common methods are available, the Commission will then require Member States to use the new and harmonised methods for the calculation of noise levels using the required noise indicators. Projects such as Harmonoise, and Imagine (Annexe C) will start to deliver these new and harmonised methods. The implementation of the END will be reviewed by the Commission in 2009 after the first round of noise mapping and Action Planning has been completed. This may result in changes to the approach required to implement the second round of mapping and Action Planning.
3.2 Competent Authorities and Key Partners
The Scottish Executive is the Competent Authority for END and is responsible for drawing up noise Action Plans. While for Airports it is the Airport operator who is the Competent Authority. To develop and prepare noise Action Plans, the Scottish Executive will work with key partners involved in END. Partnership working is explained in section 3.3.
In drawing up the Action Plans, the Scottish Executive will seek input from key stakeholders or partners, in particular those likely to have the power to implement the plans. The airport operators already have noise management schemes that will provide a good starting point in the drawing up of noise Action Plans required by the END.
The airport operators in Scotland have worked very closely with the Scottish Executives consultants to produce the required noise maps and have indicated that they would like to be similarly fully involved in the Action Plan process in terms of both producing Action Plans for individual Airports and Action Plans for the agglomerations.
The following list shows the organisations and key partners who will be involved in round one Action Planning:
- The Scottish Environment Protection Agency ( SEPA)
- Local Authorities within agglomerations
- Glasgow agglomeration
- East Dunbartonshire Council
- East Renfrewshire Council
- Glasgow City Council
- North Lanarkshire Council
- Renfrewshire Council
- South Lanarkshire Council
- West Dunbartonshire Council
- Edinburgh agglomeration
- City of Edinburgh Council
- East Lothian Council
- Midlothian Council
- West Lothian Council
- Local Authorities not in agglomerations for local road issues
- Regional Transport Partnerships
- BAA Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen
- Glasgow Prestwick Airport
- Transport Scotland
- Network Rail
For qualifying Airports, the airport operators are responsible for drawing up their own noise Action Plans.
3.3 Steering and Working Groups for Action Planning
The Scottish Environmental Noise Steering Group ( SENSG) is a group with representation from all parties involved in environmental noise. The group comprises representatives from the Scottish Executive, local authorities, SEPA, BAA, Transport Scotland and Network Rail. The primary aim of SENSG is to provide a forum for all key partners to review the development and progress of Action Plans and to determine the prioritisation of control measures.
SENSG will act as the core group to oversee the consistent development and implementation of all Action Plans. SENSG will establish three working groups to assist in the preparation of Action Plans and these groups will feedback to the core group. There will be a Glasgow agglomeration working group, an Edinburgh agglomeration working group and a Transportation Action Planning working group. All three groups will have representation on the core steering group.
Airport operators have a key role to play in Action Planning and will be able to input to all working groups. The airport operators will also be represented on the Transportation working group. The Scottish Executive's nominated noise mapping consultants, Hamilton McGregor, assisted in the development of noise maps for the four major airports in Scotland. Noise data was prepared by the Civil Aviation Authority ( CAA) and Bikerdyke Allan noise consultants. This data was then transferred to Hamilton McGregor who assisted the airport operators in the preparation of their respective maps. The airport operators are as follows:
British Airports Authority ( BAA) who operate and represent Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports, and, Glasgow Prestwick Airport which is a privately run operation.
The diagram below illustrates the reporting structure for Action Planning.
3.4 Programme and Key Dates
The Regulations require strategic noise maps to be drawn up by 30 June 2007. Phase One runs from 2007 to 2012 and requires that strategic noise maps be drawn up for:-
- major agglomerations over 250,000 inhabitants (including industry and ports within them) ;
- major roads carrying more than 6 million vehicles a year;
- major railways with over 60,000 rail passages a year; and
- major airports with over 50,000 movements per year.
Phase Two runs from 2012 to 2016 when urban areas with over 100,000 inhabitants, all major roads carrying more than 3 million vehicles, and railways with over 30,000 rail passages a year will also be covered.
1 Transpose the END - 18 July 2004
2 Inform Commission and public of competent authorities - 18 July 2005
3 Inform Commission of any existing noise limit values - 18 July 2005
4 Inform Commission of first round noise sources to be mapped - 30 June 2005
5 Collection of source/validation data for first round of maps - Course of 2006
6 Completion of first round of maps - 30 June 2007
7 Inform Commission of population exposed to noise based on results of first round of mapping - 31 December 2007
8 Completion of first round of Action Plans - 18 July 2008
9 Inform Commission of second round areas to be mapped - 31 December 2008
10 Send summary of Action Plans to the Commission - 31 December 2009
11. Completion of second round of maps - 30 June 2012
12. Completion of second round of Action Plans - 18 July 2013