Common Position (EC) No 25/2001

adopted by the Council on 7 June 2001

with a view to adopting Directive 2001/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of ... relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise

(2001/C 297/04)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 175(1) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions(3),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(4),

Whereas:

(1) It is part of Community policy to achieve a high level of health and environmental protection, and one of the objectives to be pursued is protection against noise. In the Green Paper on Future Noise Policy, the Commission addressed noise in the environment as one of the main environmental problems in Europe.

(2) In its resolution of 10 June 1997(5) on the Commission Green Paper, the European Parliament expressed its support for that Green Paper, urged that specific measures and initiatives should be laid down in a Directive on the reduction of environmental noise, and noted the lack of reliable, comparable data regarding the situation of the various noise sources.

(3) A common noise indicator and a common methodology for noise calculation and measurement around airports were identified in the Commission communication of 1 December 1999 on air transport and the environment. This communication has been taken into account in the provisions of this Directive.

(4) Certain categories of noise emissions from products are already covered by Community legislation, such as Council Directive 70/157/EEC of 6 February 1970 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the permissible sound level and the exhaust system of motor vehicles(6), Council Directive 77/311/EEC of 29 March 1977 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the driver-perceived noise level of wheeled agricultural or forestry tractors(7), Council Directive 80/51/EEC of 20 December 1979 on the limitation of noise emissions from subsonic aircraft(8) and its complementary directives, Council Directive 92/61/EEC of 30 June 1992 relating to the type-approval of two or three-wheel motor vehicles(9) and Directive 2000/14/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 8 May 2000 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the noise emission in the environment by equipment for use outdoors(10). This Directive should, inter alia, provide a basis for developing and completing the existing set of Community measures concerning noise emitted by certain specific sources and for developing additional measures in the short, medium and long term.

(5) Certain categories of noise such as noise created inside means of transport and noise from domestic activities should not be subject to this Directive.

(6) In accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty, the Treaty objectives of achieving a high level of protection of the environment and of health will be better reached by complementing the action of the Member States by a Community action achieving a common understanding of the noise problem. Data about environmental noise levels should therefore be collected, collated or reported in accordance with comparable criteria. This implies the use of harmonised indicators and evaluation methods, as well as criteria for the alignment of noise-mapping. Such criteria and methods can best be established by the Community.

(7) It is also necessary to establish common assessment methods for "environmental noise" and a definition for "limit values", in terms of harmonised indicators for the determination of noise levels. The concrete figures of any limit values are to be determined by the Member States, taking into account, inter alia, the need to apply the principle of prevention in order to preserve quiet areas in agglomerations.

(8) The selected common noise indicators are Lden, to assess annoyance, and Lnight, to assess sleep disturbance. It is also useful to allow Member States to use supplementary indicators in order to monitor or control special noise situations.

(9) Strategic noise mapping should be imposed in certain areas of interest as it can capture the data needed to provide a representation of the noise levels perceived within that area.

(10) Action plans should address priorities in those areas of interest and should be drawn up by the competent authorities in consultation with the public.

(11) In order to have a wide spread of information for the public, the most appropriate information channels should be selected.

(12) Data collection and the consolidation of suitable Community-wide reports are required as a basis for future Community policy and for further information of the public.

(13) An evaluation of the implementation of this Directive should be carried out regularly by the Commission.

(14) The technical provisions governing the assessment methods should be supplemented and adapted as necessary to technical and scientific progress and to progress in European standardisation.

(15) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(11),

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Objectives

1. The aim of this Directive shall be to define a common approach intended to combat on a prioritised basis the effects of exposure to environmental noise. To that end the following actions shall be implemented progressively:

(a) the determination of exposure to environmental noise, through noise mapping, by methods of assessment common to the Member States;

(b) ensuring that information on environmental noise and its effects is made available to the public;

(c) adoption of action plans by the Member States, based on noise mapping results, with a view to preventing and reducing environmental noise where necessary and particularly where exposure levels can induce harmful effects on human health and to preserving environmental noise quality where it is good.

2. This Directive shall also aim at providing a basis for developing Community measures to reduce noise emitted by specific sources, in particular means of transport and outdoor equipment.

Article 2

Scope

1. This Directive shall 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, in quiet areas in open country, near schools, hospitals and other noise-sensitive buildings and areas.

2. This Directive shall not apply to noise that is caused by the exposed person himself, noise from domestic activities, noise created by neighbours, noise at workplaces or noise inside means of transport or due to military activities in military areas.

Article 3

Definitions

For the purposes of this Directive:

(a) "environmental noise" shall mean unwanted or harmful outdoor sound created by human activities, including noise emitted by means of transport, road traffic, rail traffic, air traffic, and from sites of industrial activity such as those defined in Annex I to Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control(12);

(b) "harmful effects" shall mean negative effects on human health;

(c) "annoyance" shall mean the degree of community noise annoyance as determined by means of field surveys;

(d) "noise indicator" shall mean a physical scale for the description of environmental noise, which has a relationship with a harmful effect;

(e) "assessment" shall mean any method used to calculate, predict, estimate or measure the value of a noise indicator or the related harmful effects;

(f) "Lden" (day-evening-night noise indicator) shall mean the noise indicator for overall annoyance, as further defined in Annex I;

(g) "Lday" (day-noise indicator) shall mean the noise indicator for annoyance during the day period, as further defined in Annex I;

(h) "Levening" (evening-noise indicator) shall mean the noise indicator for annoyance during the evening period, as further defined in Annex I;

(i) "Lnight" (night-time noise indicator) shall mean the noise indicator for sleep disturbance, as further defined in Annex I;

(j) "dose-effect relation" shall mean the relationship between the value of a noise indicator and a harmful effect;

(k) "agglomeration" shall mean part of a territory, delimited by the Member State, having a population in excess of 100000 and a population density such that the Member State considers it to be an urbanised area;

(l) "quiet area in an agglomeration" shall mean an area, delimited by the competent authority, for instance which is not exposed to a value of Lden or of another appropriate noise indicator greater than a certain value set by the Member State, from any noise source;

(m) "quiet area in open country" shall mean an area, delimited by the competent authority, that is undisturbed by noise from traffic, industry or recreational activities;

(n) "major road" shall mean a regional, national or international road, designated by the Member State, which has more than three million vehicle passages a year;

(o) "major railway" shall mean a railway, designated by the Member State, which has more than 30000 train passages per year;

(p) "major airport" shall mean a civil airport, designated by the Member State, which has more than 50000 movements per year (a movement being a take-off or a landing), excluding those purely for training purposes on light aircraft;

(q) "noise mapping" shall mean the presentation of data on an existing or predicted noise situation in terms of a noise indicator, indicating breaches of any relevant limit value in force, the number of people affected in a certain area, or the number of dwellings exposed to certain values of a noise indicator in a certain area;

(r) "strategic noise map" shall mean a map designed for the global assessment of noise exposure in a given area due to different noise sources or for overall predictions for such an area;

(s) "limit value" shall mean a value of Lden or Lnight, and where appropriate Lday and Levening, as determined by the Member State, 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 (where there is a change in the situation regarding the noise source or the use of the surrounding);

(t) "action plans" shall mean plans designed to manage noise issues and effects, including noise reduction if necessary;

(u) "acoustical planning" shall mean controlling future noise by planned measures, such as land-use planning, systems engineering for traffic, traffic planning, abatement by sound-insulation measures and noise control of sources;

(v) "the public" shall mean one or more natural or legal persons and, in accordance with national legislation or practice, their associations, organisations or groups.

Article 4

Implementation and responsibilities

1. Member States shall designate at the appropriate levels the competent authorities and bodies responsible for implementing this Directive, including the authorities responsible for:

(a) making and, where relevant, approving noise maps and action plans for agglomerations, major roads, major railways and major airports;

(b) collecting noise maps and action plans.

2. The Member States shall make the information referred to in paragraph 1 available to the Commission and to the public no later than ...(13).

Article 5

Noise indicators and their application

1. Member States shall apply the noise indicators Lden and Lnight as referred to in Annex I for the preparation and revision of strategic noise mapping in accordance with Article 7.

Until the use of common assessment methods for the determination of Lden and Lnight is made obligatory, existing national noise indicators and related data may be used by Member States for this purpose and should be converted into the indicators mentioned above. These data must not be more than three years old.

2. Member States may use supplementary noise indicators for special cases such as those listed in Annex I(3).

3. For acoustical planning and noise zoning, Member States may use other noise indicators than Lden and Lnight.

4. No later than ...(14), Member States shall communicate information to the Commission on any relevant limit values in force within their territories or under preparation, expressed in terms of Lden and Lnight and where appropriate, Lday and Levening, for road-traffic noise, rail-traffic noise, aircraft noise around airports and noise on industrial activity sites, together with explanations about the implementation of the limit values.

Article 6

Assessment methods

1. The values of Lden and Lnight shall be determined by means of the assessment methods defined in Annex II.

2. Common assessment methods for the determination of Lden and Lnight shall be established by the Commission in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 13(2) through a revision of Annex II. Until these methods are adopted, Member States may use assessment methods adapted in accordance with Annex II and based on the methods laid down in their own legislation. In such case, they must demonstrate that those methods give equivalent results to the results obtained with the methods set out in paragraph 2(2) of Annex II.

3. Harmful effects may be assessed by means of the dose-effect relations referred to in Annex III.

Article 7

Strategic noise mapping

1. Member States shall ensure that no later than ...(15), strategic noise maps showing the situation in the preceding calendar year have been made and, where relevant, approved by the competent authorities, for all agglomerations with more than 250000 inhabitants and for all major roads which have more than six million vehicle passages a year, major railways which have more than 60000 train passages per year and major airports within their territories.

No later than ...(16), and thereafter every five years, Member States shall inform the Commission of the major roads which have more than 6 million vehicle passages a year, major railways which have more than 60000 train passages per year, major airports and the agglomerations with more than 250000 inhabitants within their territories.

2. Member States shall adopt the measures necessary to ensure that no later than ...(17), and thereafter every five years, strategic noise maps showing the situation in the preceding calendar year have been made and, where relevant, approved by the competent authorities for all agglomerations and for all major roads and major railways within their territories.

No later than ...(18), Member States shall inform the Commission of all the agglomerations and of all the major roads and major railways within their territories.

3. The strategic noise maps shall satisfy the minimum requirements laid down in Annex IV.

4. Neighbouring Member States shall cooperate on strategic noise mapping near borders.

5. The strategic noise maps shall be reviewed, and revised if necessary, at least every five years after the date of their preparation.

Article 8

Action plans

1. Member States shall ensure that no later than ...(19) at the competent authorities have drawn up action plans designed to manage, within their territories, noise issues and effects, including noise reduction if necessary for:

(a) places near the major roads which have more than 6 million vehicle passages a year, major railways which have more than 60000 train passages per year and major airports;

(b) agglomerations with more than 250000 inhabitants. Such plans shall also aim to protect quiet areas against an increase in noise.

The measures within the plans are at the discretion of the competent authorities, but should notably address priorities which may be identified by the exceeding of any relevant limit value or by other criteria chosen by the Member States and apply in particular to the most important areas as established by strategic noise mapping.

2. Member States shall ensure that no later than ...(20), the competent authorities have drawn up action plans notably to address priorities which may be identified by the exceeding of any relevant limit value or by other criteria chosen by the Member States for the agglomerations and for the major roads as well as the major railways within their territories.

3. Member States shall inform the Commission of the other relevant criteria referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2.

4. The action plans shall meet the minimum requirements of Annex V.

5. The action plans shall be reviewed, and revised if necessary, when a major development occurs affecting the existing noise situation, and at least every five years after the date of their approval.

6. Neighbouring Member States shall cooperate on the action plans for border regions.

7. Member States shall ensure that the public is consulted about proposals for action plans, given early and effective opportunities to participate in the preparation and review of the action plans, that the results of that participation are taken into account and that the public is informed on the decisions taken. Reasonable time-frames shall be provided allowing sufficient time for each stage of public participation.

If the obligation to carry out a public participation procedure arises simultaneously from this Directive and any other Community legislation, Member States may provide for joint procedures in order to avoid duplication.

Article 9

Information to the public

1. Member States shall ensure that the strategic noise maps they have made, and where appropriate adopted, and the action plans they have drawn up are made available and disseminated to the public in accordance with relevant Community legislation, in particular Council Directive 90/313/EEC of 7 June 1990 on the freedom of access to information on the environment(21) and in conformity with Annexes IV and V to this Directive, including by means of available information technologies.

2. This information shall be clear, comprehensible and accessible. A summary setting out the most important points shall be provided.

Article 10

Collection and publication of data by Member States and the Commission

1. The Member States shall ensure that the information from strategic noise maps and summaries of the action plans as referred to in Annex VI are sent to the Commission within six months of the dates laid down in Articles 7 and 8 respectively.

2. The Commission shall set up a database of information on strategic noise maps in order to facilitate the compilation of the report referred to in Article 11 and other technical and informative work.

3. Every five years the Commission shall publish a summary report of data from strategic noise maps and action plans. The first report shall be submitted by ...(22).

Article 11

Review and reporting

1. No later than ...(23), the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council a report on the implementation of this Directive.

2. That report shall in particular assess the need for further Community actions on environmental noise and, if appropriate, propose implementing strategies on aspects such as:

(a) long-term and medium-term goals for the reduction of the number of persons harmfully affected by environmental noise, taking particularly into account the different climates and different cultures;

(b) additional measures for a reduction of the environmental noise emitted by specific sources, in particular outdoor equipment, means and infrastructures of transport and certain categories of industrial activity, building on those measures already implemented or under discussion for adoption;

(c) the protection of quiet areas in open country.

3. The report shall include a review of the acoustic environment quality in the Community based on the data referred to in Article 10 and shall take account of scientific and technical progress and any other relevant information. The reduction of harmful effects and the cost-effectiveness ratio shall be the main criteria for the selection of the strategies and measures proposed.

4. When the Commission has received the first set of strategic noise maps, it shall reconsider:

- the possibility for a 1,5 m measurement height in Annex I, paragraph 1, in respect of areas having houses of one storey,

- the lower limit for the estimated number of people exposed to different bands of Lden and Lnight in Annex VI.

5. The report shall be reviewed every five years or more often if appropriate. It shall contain an assessment of the implementation of this Directive.

6. The report shall, if appropriate, be accompanied by proposals for the amendment of this Directive.

Article 12

Adaptation

The Commission shall adapt Annex I, point 3, Annex II and Annex III hereto to technical and scientific progress in accordance with the procedure provided for in Article 13(2).

Article 13

Committee

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the committee set up by Article 18 of Directive 2000/14/EC.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 5 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down for in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months.

3. The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 14

Transposition

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive no later than ...(24). They shall inform the Commission thereof.

When the Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such a reference shall be laid down by the Member States.

2. The Member States shall communicate to the Commission the texts of the provisions of national law that they adopt in the field governed by this Directive.

Article 15

Entry into force

This Directive shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 16

Addressees

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at ...

For the European Parliament

The President

For the Council

The President

(1) OJ C 337 E, 28.11.2000, p. 251.

(2) Opinion delivered on 29 November 2000 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(3) Opinion delivered on 14 February 2001 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 14 December 2000 (not yet published in the Official Journal), Council Common Position of 7 June 2001 and Decision of the European Parliament of ... (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(5) OJ C 200, 30.6.1997, p. 28.

(6) OJ L 42, 23.2.1970, p. 16. Directive as last amended by Commission Directive 1999/101/EC (OJ L 334, 28.12.1999, p. 41).

(7) OJ L 105, 28.4.1977, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive 97/54/EC (OJ L 277, 10.10.1997, p. 24).

(8) OJ L 18, 24.1.1980, p. 26. Directive as last amended by Directive 83/206/EEC (OJ L 117, 4.5.1983, p. 15).

(9) OJ L 225, 10.8.1992, p. 72. Directive as last amended by Directive 2000/7/EC (OJ L 106, 3.5.2000, p. 1).

(10) OJ L 162, 3.7.2000, p. 1.

(11) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

(12) OJ L 257, 10.10.1996, p. 26.

(13) Three years after the entry into force of this Directive.

(14) Three years after the entry into force of this Directive.

(15) Five years after the entry into force of this Directive.

(16) Three years after the entry into force of this Directive.

(17) Ten years after the entry into force of this Directive.

(18) Eight years after the entry into force of this Directive.

(19) Six years after the entry into force of this Directive.

(20) Eleven years after the entry into force of this Directive.

(21) OJ L 158, 23.6.1990, p. 56.

(22) Seven years after the entry into force of this Directive.

(23) Seven years after the entry into force of this Directive.

(24) Twenty-four months after the entry into force of this Directive.

ANNEX I

NOISE INDICATORS

referred to in Article 5

1. Definition of the day-evening-night level Lden

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

>REFERENCE TO A GRAPHIC>

in which:

- Lday is the A-weighted long-term average sound level as defined in ISO1996-2: 1987, determined over all the day periods of a year,

- Levening is the A-weighted long-term average sound level as defined in ISO1996-2: 1987, determined over all the evening periods of a year,

- Lnight is the A-weighted long-term average sound level as defined in ISO1996-2: 1987, determined over all the night periods of a year,

in which:

- the day is 12 hours, the evening four hours and the night eight hours. The Member States may shorten the evening period by one or two hours and lengthen the day and/or the night period accordingly, provided that this choice is the same for all the sources and that they provide the Commission with information on the systematic difference with the default option,

- the start of the day (and consequently the start of the evening and the start of the night) shall be chosen by the Member State (that choice shall be the same for noise from all sources); the default values are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. local time,

- a year is a relevant year as regards the emission of sound and an average year as regards the meteorological circumstances;

and in which:

- the incident sound is considered, which means that no account is taken of the sound that is reflected at the façade of the dwelling under consideration (as a general rule, this implies a 3 dB correction in case of measurement).

The height of the Lden assessment point depends on the application:

- in the case of computation for the purpose of strategic noise mapping in relation to noise exposure in and near buildings, the assessment points must be 4,0 +- 0,2 m (3,8 to 4,2 m) above the ground and at the most exposed façade; for this purpose, the most exposed façade will be the external wall facing onto and nearest to the specific noise source; for other purposes other choices may be made,

- in the case of measurement for the purpose of strategic noise mapping in relation to noise exposure in and near buildings, other heights may be chosen, but they must never be less than 1,5 m above the ground, and results should be corrected in accordance with an equivalent height of 4 m,

- for other purposes such as acoustical planning and noise zoning other heights may be chosen, but they must never be less than 1,5 m above the ground, for example for:

- rural areas with one-storey houses,

- the design of local measures meant to reduce the noise impact on specific dwellings,

- the detailed noise mapping of a limited area, showing the noise exposure of individual dwellings.

2. Definition of the night-time noise indicator

The night-time noise indicator Lnight is the A-weighted long-term average sound level as defined in ISO1996-2: 1987, determined over all the night periods of a year;

in which

- the night is eight hours as defined in paragraph 1,

- a year is a relevant year as regards the emission of sound and an average year as regards the meteorological circumstances, as defined in paragraph 1,

- the incident sound is considered, as laid down in paragraph 1,

- the assessment point is the same as for Lden.

3. Supplementary noise indicators

In some cases, in addition to Lden and Lnight, and where appropriate Lday and Levening, it may be advantageous to use special noise indicators and related limit values. Some examples are given below:

- the noise source under consideration operates only for a small proportion of the time (for example, less than 20 % of the time over the total of the day periods in a year, the total of the evening periods in a year, or the total of the night periods in a year),

- the average number of noise events in one or more of the periods is very low (for example, less than one noise event an hour; a noise event could be defined as a noise that lasts less than five minutes; examples are the noise from a passing train or a passing aircraft),

- the low-frequency content of the noise is strong,

- Lamax, or SEL (sound exposure level) for night period protection in the case of noise peaks,

- extra protection at the weekend or a specific part of the year,

- extra protection of the day period,

- extra protection of the evening period,

- a combination of noises from different sources,

- quiet areas in open country,

- the noise contains strong tonal components,

- the noise has an impulsive character.

ANNEX II

ASSESSMENT METHODS FOR THE NOISE INDICATORS

referred to in Article 6

1. Introduction

The values of Lden and Lnight can be determined either by computation or by measurement (at the assessment position). For predictions only computation is applicable.

Provisional computation and measurement methods are set out in paragraphs 2 and 3.

2. Interim computation methods for Lden and Lnight

2.1. Adaptation of existing national computation methods

If a Member State has national methods for the determination of long-term indicators those methods may be applied, provided that they are adapted to the definitions of the indicators set out in Annex I. For most national methods this implies the introduction of the evening as a separate period and the introduction of the average over a year. Some existing methods will also have to be adapted as regards the exclusion of the façade reflection, the incorporation of the night and/or the assessment position.

The establishment of the average over a year requires special attention. Variations in emission and transmission can contribute to fluctuations over a year.

2.2. Recommended interim computation methods

For Member States that have no national computation methods or Member States that wish to change computation method, the following methods are recommended:

For INDUSTRIAL NOISE: ISO 9613-2: "Acoustics - Attenuation of sound propagation outdoors, Part 2: General method of calculation".

Suitable noise-emission data (input data) for this method can be obtained from measurements carried out in accordance with one of the following methods:

- ISO 8297: 1994 "Acoustics - Determination of sound power levels of multisource industrial plants for evaluation of sound pressure levels in the environment - Engineering method",

- EN ISO 3744: 1995 "Acoustics - Determination of sound power levels of noise using sound pressure - Engineering method in an essentially free field over a reflecting plane",

- EN ISO 3746: 1995 "Acoustics - Determination of sound power levels of noise sources using an enveloping measurement surface over a reflecting plane".

For AIRCRAFT NOISE: ECAC.CEAC Doc. 29 "report on standard method of computing noise contours around civil airports", 1997. Of the different approaches to the modelling of flight paths, the segmentation technique referred to in section 7.5 of ECAC.CEAC Doc. 29 will be used.

For ROAD TRAFFIC NOISE: The French national computation method "NMPB-Routes-96 (SETRA-CERTU-LCPC-CSTB)", referred to in "Arrêté du 5 mai 1995 relatif au bruit des infrastructures routières, Journal Officiel du 10 mai 1995, Article 6" and in the French standard "XPS 31-133". For input data concerning emissions, these documents refer to the "Guide du bruit des transports terrestres, fascicule prévision des niveaux sonores, CETUR 1980".

For RAILWAY NOISE: The Netherlands national computation method published in "Reken- en Meetvoorschrift Railverkeerslawaai '96, Ministerie Volkshuisvesting, Ruimtelijke Ordening en Milieubeheer, 20 November 1996".

Those methods must be adapted to the definitions of Lden and Lnight. No later than 1 July 2003 the Commission will publish guidelines in accordance with Article 13(2) on the revised methods and provide emission data for aircraft noise, road traffic noise and railway noise on the basis of existing data.

3. Interim measurement methods for Lden and Lnight

If a Member State wants to use its own official measurement method, that method shall be adapted in accordance with the definitions of the indicators set out in Annex I and in accordance with the principles governing long-term average measurements stated in ISO 1996-2: 1987 and ISO 1996-1: 1982.

If a Member State has no measurement method or if it prefers to apply another method, a method may be defined on the basis of the definition of the indicator and the principles stated in ISO 1996-2: 1987 and ISO 1996-1: 1982.

Measurement data in front of a façade or another reflecting element must be corrected to exclude the reflected contribution of this façade or element (as a general rule, this implies a 3 dB correction in case of measurement).

ANNEX III

ASSEMENTS METHODS FOR HARMFUL EFFECTS

referred to in article 6(3)

Dose-effect relations should be used to assess the effect of noise on populations. The dose-effect relations introduced by future revisions of this Annex in accordance with Article 13(2) will concern in particular:

- the relation between annoyance and Lden for road, rail and air traffic noise, and for industrial noise,

- the relation between sleep disturbance and Lnight for road, rail and air traffic noise, and for industrial noise.

If necessary, specific dose-effect relations could be presented for:

- dwellings with special insulation against noise as defined in Annex VI,

- dwellings with a quiet façade as defined in Annex VI,

- different climates/different cultures,

- vulnerable groups of the population,

- tonal industrial noise,

- impulsive industrial noise and other special cases.

ANNEX IV

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR STRATEGIC NOISE MAPPING

referred to in Article 7

1. A strategic noise map is the presentation of data on one of the following aspects:

- an existing, a previous or a predicted noise situation in terms of a noise indicator,

- the exceeding of a limit value,

- the estimated number of dwellings, schools and hospitals in a certain area that are exposed to specific values of a noise indicator,

- the estimated number of people located in an area exposed to noise.

2. Strategic noise maps may be presented to the public as:

- graphical plots,

- numerical data in tables,

- numerical data in electronic form.

3. Strategic noise maps for agglomerations shall put a special emphasis on the noise emitted by:

- road traffic,

- rail traffic,

- airports,

- industrial activity sites, including ports.

4. Strategic noise mapping will be used for the following purposes:

- the provision of the data to be sent to the Commission in accordance with Article 10(2) and Annex VI,

- the source of information for citizens in accordance with Article 9,

- a basis for action plans in accordance with Article 8.

Each of those applications requires a different type of strategic noise map.

5. Minimum requirements for the strategic noise maps concerning the data to be sent to the Commission are set out in paragraphs 1.5, 1.6, 2.5, 2.6 and 2.7 of Annex VI.

6. For the purposes of informing the citizen in accordance with Article 9 and the development of action plans in accordance with Article 8, additional and more detailed information must be given, such as:

- a graphical presentation,

- maps disclosing the exceeding of a limit value,

- difference maps, in which the existing situation is compared with various possible future situations,

- maps showing the value of a noise indicator at a height different than 4 m where appropriate.

The Member States may lay down rules on the types and formats of these noise maps.

7. Strategic noise maps for local or national application must be made for an assessment height of 4 m and the 5 dB ranges of Lden and Lnight as defined in Annex VI.

8. For agglomerations separate strategic noise maps must be made for road traffic noise, rail traffic noise, aircraft noise and industrial noise. Maps for other sources may be added.

9. The Commission may develop guidelines providing further guidance on noise maps, noise mapping and mapping softwares in accordance with Article 13(2).

ANNEX V

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS FOR ACTION PLANS

referred to in Article 8

1. An action plan must at least include the following elements:

- a description of the agglomeration, the major roads, the major railways or major airports and other noise sources taken into account,

- the authority responsible,

- the legal context,

- any limit values in place in accordance with Article 5,

- a summary of the results of the noise mapping,

- an evaluation of the estimated number of people exposed to noise, identification of problems and situations that need to be improved,

- a record of the public consultations organised in accordance with Article 8(7),

- any noise-reduction measures already in force and any projects in preparation,

- actions which the competent authorities intend to take in the next five years, including any measures to preserve quiet areas,

- long-term strategy,

- financial information (if available): budgets, cost-effectiveness assessment, cost-benefit assessment,

- provisions envisaged for evaluating the implementation and the results of the action plan.

2. The actions which the competent authorities intend to take in the fields within their competence may for example include:

- traffic planning,

- land-use planning,

- technical measures at noise sources,

- selection of quieter sources,

- reduction of sound transmission,

- regulatory or economic measures or incentives.

3. Each action plan should contain estimates in terms of the reduction of the number of people affected (annoyed, sleep disturbed, or other).

4. The Commission may develop guidelines providing further guidance on the action plans in accordance with Article 13(2).

ANNEX VI

DATA TO BE SENT TO THE COMMISSION

referred to in Article 10

The data to be sent to the Commission are as follows.

1. For agglomerations

1.1. A concise description of the agglomeration: location, size, number of inhabitants.

1.2. The responsible authority.

1.3. Noise-control programmes that have been carried out in the past and noise-measures in place.

1.4. The computation or measurement methods that have been used.

1.5. The estimated number of people (in hundreds) living in dwellings that are exposed to each of the following bands of values of Lden in dB 4 m above the ground on the most exposed façade: 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, > 75, separately for noise from road, rail and air traffic, and from industrial sources. The figures must be rounded to the nearest hundred (e.g. 5200 = between 5150 and 5249; 100 = between 50 and 149; 0 = less than 50).

In addition it should be stated, where available and appropriate, how many persons in the above categories live in dwellings that have:

- special insulation against the noise in question, meaning special insulation of a building against one or more types of environmental noise, combined with such ventilation or air-conditioning facilities that high values of insulation against environmental noise can be maintained,

- a quiet façade, meaning the façade of a dwelling at which the value of Lden 4 metres above the ground and 2 metres in front of the façade, for the noise emitted from a specific source, is more than 20 dB lower than at the façade having the highest value of Lden..

It must also be indicated how major roads, major railways and major airports as defined in Article 3 contribute to the above.

1.6. The estimated total number of people (in hundreds) living in dwellings that are exposed to each of the following bands of values of Lnight in dB 4 m above the ground on the most exposed façade: 50-54,55-59, 60-64, 65-69, > 70, separately for road, rail and air traffic and for industrial sources.

In addition it should be stated, where available and appropriate, how many persons in the above categories live in dwellings that have:

- special insulation against the noise in question, as defined in paragraph 1(5),

- a quiet façade, as defined in paragraph 1(5).

It must also be indicated how major roads, major railways and major airports contribute to the above.

1.7. In case of graphical presentation, strategic maps must at least show the 60, 65, 70 and 75 dB cotours.

1.8. A summary of the action plan covering all the important aspects referred to in Annex V, not exceeding 10 pages in length.

2. For major roads, major railways and major airports

2.1. A general description of the roads, railways or airports: location, size, and data on the traffic.

2.2. A characterisation of their surroundings: agglomerations, villages, countryside or otherwise, information on land use, other major noise sources.

2.3. Noise-control programmes that have been carried out in the past and noise-measures in place.

2.4. The computation or measurement methods that have been used.

2.5. The estimated total number of people (in hundreds) living outside agglomerations in dwellings that are exposed to each of the following bands of values of Lden in dB 4 m above the ground and on the most exposed façade: 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, > 75.

In addition it should be stated, where available and appropriate, how many persons in the above categories live in dwellings that have:

- special insulation against the noise in question, as defined in paragraph 1(5),

- a quiet façade, as defined in paragraph 1(5).

2.6. The estimated total number of people (in hundreds) living outside agglomerations in dwellings that are exposed to each of the following bands of values of Lnight in dB on the most exposed façade: 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, > 70.

In addition it should be stated, where available and appropriate, how many persons in the above categories live in dwellings that have:

- special insulation against the noise in question, as defined in paragraph 1(5);

- a quiet façade, as defined in paragraph 1.5.

2.7. The total area (in km2) exposed to values of Lden higher than 60, 65 and 75 dB respectively. The estimated total number of dwellings (in hundreds) and the estimated total number of people (in hundreds) living in each of these areas must also be given. Those figures must include agglomerations.

The 60 and 65 dB contours must also be shown on one or more maps that give information on the location of villages, towns and agglomerations within those contours.

2.8. A summary of the action plan covering all the important aspects referred to in Annex V, not exceeding 10 pages in length.

3. Guidelines

The Commission may develop guidelines to provide further guidance on the above provision of information, in accordance with Article 13(2).

STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

The Commission submitted to the Council, on 26 July 2000, its proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise(1).

The European Parliament delivered its opinion on 14 December 2000.

The Economic and Social Committee issued its opinion on 29 November 2000(2).

The Committee of the Regions issued its opinion on 15 February 2001(3).

The Council adopted its Common Position in accordance with Article 251 of the Treaty on 7 June 2001.

II. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL

The proposal aims at:

- introducing common noise indicators for assessing the long-term exposure of humans to environmental noise,

- obliging the Member States to establish, for large agglomerations and major roads, railways and airports, strategic noise maps reflecting the noise situation in their territories, using at least the common indicators Lden and Lnight, which assess annoyance and sleep disturbance,

- obliging the Member States to establish, in the light of those maps, action plans with a view to preventing and reducing noise,

- spreading information about noise exposure and its effects among the public and providing for public participation in the establishment of the action plans,

- providing a basis for further Community work concerning standards for noise emitted by specific sources and for further consideration of the need for Community actions aiming at reducing environmental noise.

The Council's Common Position conforms to these objectives.

III. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

1. The Council's Common Position provides for a methodology for the assessment and abatement of long-term exposure of humans to environmental outdoor noise created by human activity in their domestic environment (built-up areas, parks, quiet areas, schools and other noise-sensitive buildings and areas).

2. Concerning assessment, the Common Position provides for the use, regarding strategic noise mapping in large agglomerations and major roads, railways and airports, of common noise indicators, i.e. Lden, which assesses the average annoyance caused by noise over a day, and Lnight, which assesses the sleep disturbances caused by exposure during the night. In addition, the Member States may use supplementary indicators for measuring the annoyance in certain specific situations such as noise peaks, specific periods of the year or quiet areas. Such supplementary indicators could be further developed under the comitology procedure. The common indicators would produce a comparable understanding of the annoyance and sleep disturbance caused by noise across the Community.

3. Concerning abatement, the Common Position obliges the Member States to establish, for major agglomerations or major roads, railways and airports:

- strategic noise maps: strategic noise maps, established with the common indicators Lden and Lnight, give a global assessment about the noise in a given area and contain general previsions of the development of noise in that same area,

- action plans: action plans aim at managing noise issues and effects, including noise prevention or reduction if necessary, and are established in consultation with the public. The measures within these plans are at the discretion of the competent authorities, but they should notably address priorities which may be identified by the exceedance of any limit value (expressed in terms of Lden or Lnight) or by other criteria chosen by the Member States. The measures should in particular apply to the most important areas as established by the strategic noise mapping. The Common Position also refers to the possibility for the Member States to engage into acoustical planning, i.e. controlling noise by land-use planning, traffic-planning, noise control of sources, and into noise zoning, i.e. acoustical planning in a zone around or along a noise source. In these cases, indicators other than Lden and Lnight may be used, at the Member States' discretion.

4. In addition, the Common Position aims at spreading information about noise maps and action plans among the public and at providing for public participation in the establishment of action plans. The comparability between the noise maps and the action plans may provide a strong incentive for the public and the competent local and national authorities to provide the strictest noise abatement standards found in the Community.

5. The Commission will equally be informed about the Member States' strategic noise maps and action plans. That information should in particular provide a basis for completing, in the short and long term, the existing Community measures concerning noise emitted by products, means and infrastructures of transport, outdoor equipment, building activities and other specific sources. That information should also help the Commission to assess the need for Community strategies with a view to reducing the number of people harmfully affected by noise and to protecting quiet areas in open country.

IV. AMENDMENTS BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ACCEPTED BY THE COUNCIL

The Council integrated into its Common Position the following amendments, most of which were also accepted by the Commission:

Amendment 2 to recital 5 of the proposal (recital 6 of the Common Position).

Amendment 3 to recital 6 (recital 7 of the Common Position).

Amendment 41 concerning the second part of recital 10: in fact, the Council deleted recital 10 altogether as the first part merely repeated Article 11 without motivating it.

Amendment 44 concerning Article 3(c) (also accepted by the Commission): see Article 3(b) of the Common Position.

Amendment 45 concerning Article 3(l) (also accepted by the Commission).

Amendment 46 concerning Article 8(4) (also accepted by the Commission): see Article 8(5) of the Common Position.

Amendment 30 concerning Article 9(3a) (also accepted by the Commission): see Article 9(2) of the Common Position).

Amendments 34 and 35 concerning Annex VI.

V. AMENDMENTS BY PARLIAMENT ACCEPTED IN A DIFFERENT FORM

In Amendment 4 for a new recital 7a, Parliament proposed motivating the insertion of Lnight. As the recitals proposed by the Commission did not contain any reference to the indicators, the Council inserted a new recital 8, which motivates the use, not only of Lden, but also of Lnight and the supplementary indicators as well if Member States wish to use them.

Amendment 15 for a new Article 3(ha) defining the Lamax indicator by reference to the comitology procedure: the Council inserted a reference to Lamax in the list of supplementary indicators of Annex I(3), which can be adapted to technical and scientific progress through the comitology procedure laid down in Article 12.

Amendment 21 for a new Article 5 (2a) on maintaining and adapting useful national noise indicators (accepted by Commission): this idea was inserted in a new Article 5(1), (2).

Amendment 22 for a new Article 6(2a) on maintaining and adapting useful national assessment methods (accepted by the Commission) was reflected in the new Article 6(2) and in Annex II, (2.1) and (3).

Amendment 28 concerning Article 9(1): rather than creating a specific information system as proposed by the Commission and specifying the details of that system as proposed by Parliament, the Council chose to refer to the general system of Directive 90/313/EEC and, implicitly, to the Directive that will amend it(4). Directive 90/313/EEC enables any person to obtain environmental information from public authorities and obliges those authorities to provide the public with general environmental information. The proposal for a replacing directive contains a very elaborate information system that includes all the elements proposed by Parliament.

Amendment 29 concerning Article 9(2): consultation of appropriate organisations on action plans: the Council deleted Article 9(2) of the proposal and inserted a new Article 8(7), which contains details on the consultation of the public on action plans and which was inspired by Article 6 of the draft Directive on the assessment of the effects on certain plans and programmes on the environment(5).

VI. AMENDMENTS BY PARLIAMENT PARTLY ACCEPTED BY THE COUNCIL

Amendment 11 requesting the Commission to propose quality standards for sources of noise emissions; amendment 5 regarding an addition to recital 9; amendment 8 (first part) regarding a new recital 10a and amendment 38 regarding a new recital 10b: the Council agreed in substance on these amendments, and:

- added to Article 1 a new subparagraph stating that the Directive shall provide a basis for developing Community measures to reduce noise emitted by specific sources, in particular means of transport and outdoor equipment,

- amended Article 11 in the sense that the Commission shall assess the need for measures reducing noise from outdoor equipment, means and infrastructures of transport and certain categories of industrial activity,

- amended recital 4 by replacing the quotation of Community emission standards and by a series of directives on noise emissions from products and means of transport. The Council also added that the directives on sources of noise should form a basis for developing and completing these measures in the long, medium and short term,

- invited the Commission, in a statement for the minutes, to envisage submitting as soon as possible proposals on emission limits concerning all items quoted by Parliament, as well as outdoor and industrial equipment.

The Council did not feel it necessary to copy the more detailed parameters proposed by Parliament. In order to respect the Commission's freedom of initiative, the Council did not fix a deadline for proposals on sources and preferred addressing its invitation in a statement for the minutes rather than in an instruction in an article.

Amendments 13 and 42 concerning Article 2(1) on the scope of the Directive: like the Commission, the Council accepted most parts of this amendment, while widening the emphasis from "homes" to "built-up areas". The Council however maintained the necessity for exposure to humans, and did not delete the emphasis on the protection of quiet areas in agglomerations.

Amendment 17 concerning Article 3(s): the Council agreed to the deletion of the reference to different limit values but felt that the addition of "measures to reduce the causes of the exceeding of the limit values" did not add anything to "mitigation measures".

Amendments 30 and 33 concerning Articles 12 and 13 with a view to deleting the simplified amendment procedure: the Council deleted the application of the committee procedure to the main characteristics of the indicators Lden and Lnight, to the strategic noise mapping, the action plans and to the types of data to be sent to the Commission. The Council however maintained the committee procedure for the following matters:

- adapting the list of supplementary noise indicators for the different situations provided in Annex I(3) (including LAmax as proposed in amendment 15),

- specifying the subsidiary characteristics of the common assessment methods and updating the recommended interim assessment methods for the determination of Lden and Lnight (Article 6(2) and Annex II),

- establishing dose/effects relations to assess the effect of noise on populations (Annex III).

VII. AMENDMENTS BY PARLIAMENT NOT ACCEPTED BY THE COUNCIL

Amendment 1 on adding to the title the words "setting up a Community framework for" (accepted with a different interpretation by the Commission): this amendment aims at clarifying that the Directive will form the basis for subsidiary directives on products, and deals with the same subject as amendments 5, 8, 38 and 11 that were discussed above. The Council could not accept amendment 1 since it referred to subsidiary directives, based on the work already being done, in a statement for the minutes and not in the text of the Directive.

Amendment 6 for a new recital 9a (regarded as unnecessary by the Commission): the Council did not include this amendment as it merely repeated amendment 21 (accepted by the Council) without motivating it.

Amendment 8 (last sentence) regarding a new recital 10a and amendment 10 regarding a new Article 1(1)(ba) indicating that the aim of the Directive is to set limit values for environmental noise around airports (both rejected by the Commission): from a procedural point of view, the Council notes that this recital and this objective lack a corresponding article. Moreover, noise limits are not part of the scope of the proposal and neither the Council nor Parliament are allowed to regulate beyond that scope. From a substantive point of view, the Council considers that the need for limit values should be considered in the framework of Article 11. There is not enough comparable information about noise around airports throughout Europe, nor about the noise sensitivity of the different populations for the Community to be able to set limit values on solid scientific bases. It should suffice at this stage to establish noise maps and action plans around airports and to envisage submitting proposals for more stringent noise emission limits for aircraft.

Amendment 39 regarding an addition to Article 1(2) on respecting four general principles (accepted by the Commission): this amendment was rejected because these principles were undefined (except PPP), conflicting, difficult to apply, of a political character, and therefore unsuitable for inclusion in a legal text.

Amendment 14 concerning Article 3(a) (not accepted by the Commission): this amendment limits the notion of "noise from industrial sites and buildings" to the sole noise emitted by "all types of machinery", which is too restrictive.

Amendment 16 concerning Article 3(p) with a view to including military airports (not accepted by the Commission): it was felt to be necessary not to cover military airports for reasons of national defence.

Amendment 18 concerning Article 3(u): drafting changes to the definition of "Action plans": rather than referring to "activity" or "activities", the Council used the word "plans" in the definition of "action plans"; rather than referring to "is in danger of being exceeded", the Council referred to "other criteria" in Article 8(1), last subparagraph.

Amendment 19 concerning Article4 (1): independence of the authorities responsible for implementing the Directive: was not accepted as the competent authorities must always be independent and impartial.

Amendments 20 regarding an addition to Article 5(2) with a view to making the use of additional indicators such as LAmax mandatory: the Council felt that additional indicators should remain optional: the harmonisation of noise indicators Lden and Lnight has not been accepted easily by the Member States, and it was felt that the choice of other indicators, although useful in some cases, should be left to Member States, while the common indicators provide a good overview of the noise situation.

Amendments 23 and 25 regarding an addition to Articles 7 and 8 with a view to producing noise maps and action plans in case of serious complaints (not accepted by the Commission): this was not retained as it would be difficult to define the notion of "serious complaint" and as there is a very serious danger of abusive complaints. The Council also considers that the public is sufficiently protected by the present system whereby:

- regularly reviewed strategic noise maps will make a detailed assessment of the number of people affected by different levels of noise in major agglomerations and major roads, railways and airports [Annex VI(1.5), (1.6), (2.5), (2.6)],

- action plans will be established in the light of these maps and in consultation with the public [Article 8(7)]; these maps will be reviewed in case of a major development affecting the noise situation [Article 8(5)].

Amendment 24 regarding a new paragraph 7(3a) on maintaining existing noise maps: the Council sees no necessity for this provision: as soon as Article 7 becomes applicable, strategic noise maps will have to respond to the requirements of the Directive. There will be no need for maintaining the old types of maps for Community purposes.

Amendment 26 regarding a new paragraph requiring emitters of significant sources of noise to produce individual action plans (not accepted by the Commission): noise from individual sources will generally be covered by the action plans for agglomerations and for the major roads, railways and airports. It will up to those action plans to determine their rules for noise management, and to decide whether they will impose action plans to individual emitters of noise.

VIII. OTHER CHANGES TO THE COMMISSION PROPOSAL INTRODUCED BY THE COUNCIL

The preamble

The Council regrouped the ideas by merging recitals 4 and 10 on future work. It added a new recital 5 to clarify the scope and split recital 8 to become recitals 9, 10 and 11. The Council also improved the drafting of recitals 3, 6, 7, 8 and 15 (former 3, 5, 6, 7 and 12).

Article 1

In the first sentence of the first subparagraph, the more synthetic "combating" replaces "avoid, prevent and reduce", which were sent back to paragraph (c) concerning action to be undertaken. The sentence asks Member States to fix priorities - the notion of "priorities" being explained in Article 8 (2). Community action will address "effects" generally and not solely "harmful effects on human health", which are now referred to in paragraph (c).

Paragraph (a) now better summarises Articles 5 to 7.

Paragraph (c) replaces point 2 of the Commission proposal and sheds more clarity on what action is to be undertaken on the basis of the directive.

The Council added a point 2 in line with Parliament's amendments on noise from specific sources.

Article 2

The Council replaced the "noise perceived by humans" by the less subjective "noise to which humans are exposed". Since environmental noise concerns noise outdoor, the Council replaced "in and near their homes" by "in built-up areas", deleted "in" in front of "schools", "hospitals" and "buildings" and added recital 5. The deletion of "pupils" and "patients" was proposed by Parliament. For reasons of national defence, the Council exempted military activities in military areas.

Article 3

The Council:

- added a few details to the definition of "environmental noise",

- deleted the definitions of "human health" as it was not defined in any Community legislation, and of "noise zoning",

- deleted subjective elements ("demonstrable, self-reported, relatively, where natural quiet can be experienced") from the definitions of "noise indicator", "Lnight" and "quiet area";

- introduced in the definition of quiet area the possibility of using indicators that are more suitable than Lden,

- excluded training flights on light aircraft for the designation of major airports,

- deleted the inclusion of economic data in noise mapping,

- maintained the requirement of expressing the limit values in terms of Lden and Lnight while indicating ("and, where appropriate ...") that the indicators Lday and Levening may be used in addition; clarified that the limit values may adapt to the noise sensitiveness of the groups of populations,

- reduced the two definitions of "action plan for an agglomeration" and of "action plan for a major road, railway or airport" to a single simplified definition. This new definition also contains the notion of "management of noise". The elements of "exceedance of limit values" and "protection of quiet areas" were transferred to Article 8(1) in fine and Article 8(1)(b),

- the definitions of "special insulation" and "quiet façade" were transferred to Annex VI,

- the Council added a definition of "the public", which is identical to that one of the Aarhus Convention of 1998 on access to information, public participation in decision making and access to justice.

Article 4

The Council modified paragraph 1(a) in order to take into account the fact that noise maps are made, but not always approved, by the competent authorities. The same modification appears in Article 7(1) and (2) and Article 8(1). Point 2 was deleted because official "Community-wide quality assurance programmes" are not available yet.

Article 5

The possibility for using of existing indicators pending adoption through the Committee procedure of the assessment methods (paragraph 1(2) should enable Member States to introduce the final system in one single go rather than passing through provisional intermediate stages.

According to the new paragraph 3 of the Common Position, the use of Lden and Lnight should be optional for acoustical planning and noise zoning, like the establishment of acoustical plans and noise zones itself.

In paragraph 4, the Council expressed the possibility of using more indicators than only Lden and Lnight when drawing up limit values.

Article 6 and Annex III

The Council added a new transitional provision in paragraph 2 which has the same purpose as Article 5(1)(2) relating to indicators.

Regarding paragraph 3 (point 2 in the Commission proposal) and its related Annex III (Annex II, point 4 of the proposal), the Council maintained the Commission's idea that dose/effect relations will be established through the comitology procedure but specified in far greater detail the expected scope. However, having regard to the importance of these dose/effects relations, the Council did not wish these relations to be made obligatory through the comitology procedure. At most the outcome of that procedure could lead to an optional practice. That is why the Council replaced "shall" by "may" in Article 6(3).

Article 7

The Council changed the title from "Noise maps" to "Strategic noise maps"; according to the definitions in Article 3, strategic noise maps are noise maps that give a global assessment of the noise exposure in a given area.

In its proposal the Commission included a two-step approach under which maps should be made first for agglomerations of more than 250000 inhabitants and later for agglomerations of 100000 inhabitants. The Council agreed to this approach but expanded it to roads (6 million passages first; later 3 million) and railways (60000 to 30000 ).

Concerning point 5, the Commission had proposed that maps should be remade in any case every five years. The Council modified that requirement to read that maps must be reviewed in any case, but that they should be remade only if such is necessary.

Article 8

As it already did for Article 7, the Council expanded to roads and railways the two-step approach proposed by the Commission.

Subparagraph 2 of point 1 and point 3 were inserted by the Council. They contain the idea of fixing priorities and of taking into account other criteria.

Point 6 was added; it reiterates the idea of cooperation between neighbouring Member States already contained in Article 7(4).

Point 7 replaces and strengthens Article 9(2) of the Commission proposal on public participation to the establishment of action plans.

Article 9

Point 1 refers to general existing and future legislation concerning access of the public to environmental information. This modification has the advantage of referring to a very detailed body of law. Point 2 is an amendment of Parliament.

Article 10

Point 1 of the Commission proposal was deleted because it was redundant to Article 4. More time was given to the administrations to make the summaries of their maps and action plans and to transmit these to the Commission. In point 2, the Council specified the use the Commission could make of the database.

Article 11

Point 2 was widely amended. In particular, the Council replaced the consideration of Community quality objectives by the consideration of Community actions on environmental noise. As possible implementing strategies, the Council maintained the reduction of people affected by noise, the reduction of noise from specific sources and the protection of quiet areas. However, all elements relating to noise from specific sources were transferred to a single paragraph and expanded, also in line with Parliament's wishes. On the new point 4, see below under Annex I and VI.

Article 12

The Council reduced the scope of the comitology procedure, albeit less than in Parliament's amendments.

Article 13

The Common Position deleted point 4 of the proposal as it was redundant to the drafting of guidelines laid down in Annex III(2), Annex IV(9), Annex V(4) and in Annex VI(3).

Article 14 of the Commission proposal

The Council transferred this Article to Article 11(5), second sentence.

Article 15 - dates of implementation

Assuming that the Directive would be published in the Official Journal on 1 February 2000, it could be considered that the Council postponed the starting date for implementation by six months (Article 14), the information of the Commission by 18 months (Articles 4(2) and 5(3) and the different stages of mapping (Article 7) and drafting of action plans (Article 8) by two years. In all, the implementation would start in 2003 and be complete end 2012. Longer implementation periods were necessitated by the fact that the Directive will involve many national, regional or local administrations.

Annex I

Annex I defines the indicator Lden. Lden measures, in decibels (dB), the annoyance during a day composed of a daytime of 12 hours, an evening of four hours and a night of eight hours. However, the Common Position gives the Member States the possibility of transferring ore or two hours from the evening period to the day period or to the night, in order to take into account the possible differences in lifestyle that might occur between Member States.

The Commission had proposed that the assessment of noise emissions should be undertaken at 2 m in front of the façade of buildings in order to avoid reflections. Since that created problems in narrow streets or in streets with parked cars, it was agreed that the measurement must be undertaken at the façade, but that a correction would be introduced (in general 3 dB).

The Council agreed that the assessment of the noise near buildings should in principle be undertaken at a height of 4 m, but that 1,5 m or more may be chosen in case of measurement method, for acoustical planning and for noise zoning. Under Article 11(4), the Commission would reconsider the measurement height for areas with houses of one storey.

The Council also deleted points 1.2 and 2.2 of the proposal. It added a reference to the Lamax indicator.

Annex II

The Council placed the computation method in front of the measurement method because the computation method is used more often. The last sentence of the Commission's section 3 on the use of equivalent assessment methods was replaced by Article 6(2) in fine.

Annex III of the Commission proposal

The Council deleted this Annex, which concerned requirements for mapping software, and reintroduced this idea in Annex IV(9), which allows the Commission to develop guidelines in that field.

Annex IV

The Council made a few minor changes ("estimated" numbers, new paragraph 3).

Annex V

Regarding section 1, the Council merged all indents relating to the health situation into indent 6. The economic aspects are now referred to in indent 11. A few details were deleted in section 2.

Annex VI

The Common Position mainly reduced the upper and lower bands of values of dB where exposure to noise has to be assessed. The reduction enables administrations better to concentrate on noisy areas. Nevertheless, the lower limit of the bands is still wide enough to enable tracking the transfer of noise from noisy areas to quiet areas. Moreover, the Commission will, according to Article 11(4), reexamine the lower limit of the bands. A last modification is that the data related to persons living in specially insulated houses are only required if already available.

(1) OJ C 337 E, 28.11.2000, p. 251.

(2) OJ C 116, 20.4.2001, p. 48.

(3) OJ C 148, 18.5.2001, p. 7.

(4) Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on public access to information, OJ C 337 E of 28.11.2000, p. 156.

(5) Doc. PE-CONS 3619/01.