Directive 2002/30/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 March 2002 on the establishment of rules and procedures with regard to the introduction of noise-related operating restrictions at Community airports (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2002-03-26
Institutions: Council of the European Union, European Parliament
Subjects: airport, environmental protection, harmonisation of standards, noise level, noise protection

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DIRECTIVE 2002/30/EC OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

of 26 March 2002

on the establishment of rules and procedures with regard to the introduction of noise-related
operating restrictions at Community airports

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 80(2) 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
Regions (3),

the Committee of

the

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

Whereas:

A key objective of
the common transport policy is
sustainable development. This requires an integrated
approach aimed at ensuring both the effective func-
tioning of the Community's transport systems and the
protection of the environment.

Sustainable development of air transport necessitates the
introduction of measures aimed at reducing the noise
nuisance from aircraft at airports with particular noise
problems.

A new, more stringent noise certification standard,
defined in Volume 1, Part II, Chapter 4 of Annex 16 to
the Convention on International Civil Aviation, has been
established within the framework of the International
Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and will contribute
to an improvement in the noise climate around airports
in the longer term.

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

The Chapter 4 standard has been established for certi-
fication of aircraft and not as a basis for the introduction
of operating restrictions.

(10)

The gradual removal of Chapter 2 aeroplanes pursuant
to Council Directive 92/14/EEC of 2 March 1992 on the
limitation of the operation of aeroplanes covered by Part
II, Chapter 2, Volume 1 of Annex 16 to the Convention
on International Civil Aviation, second edition (1988) (5)
will be completed on 1 April 2002 and new measures

(1) OJ C 75 E, 26.3.2002, p. 318.
(2) Opinion delivered on 20 March 2002 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(3) Opinion delivered on 14 March 2002 (not yet published in the

Official Journal).

(4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 13 March 2002 (not yet
Journal). Council Decision of 26 March

published in the Official
2002.

(5) OJ L 76, 23.3.1992, p. 21. Directive as last amended by Commis-
sion Regulation (EC) No 991/2001 (OJ L 138, 22.5.2001, p. 12).

will be required to prevent a deterioration in the noise
climate after 2002, assuming continued growth of air
transport in Europe.

The use of aeroplanes with a better environmental
performance can contribute to a more effective use of
available airport capacity and facilitate airport infrastruc-
ture development in line with market requirements.

A common framework of rules and procedures for the
introduction of operating restrictions at Community
airports, as part of a balanced approach on noise
management, will help safeguard internal market
requirements by introducing similar operating restric-
tions at airports with broadly comparable noise prob-
lems. This includes assessment of the noise impact at an
airport and evaluation of
the measures available to
alleviate that impact, and selection of the appropriate
mitigation measures with the goal of achieving the
maximum environmental benefit most cost effectively.

for Community air

Council Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92 of 23 July 1992
on access
to intra-
Community air routes (6) provides in Articles 8 and 9
for, inter alia, publication and examination of new oper-
ating restrictions: the relationship of those provisions
with this Directive should be set out.

carriers

(6)

(7)

(8)

(9)

The legitimate interest of the air transport sector in
applying cost-effective solutions
for meeting noise
management goals should be recognised.

concept of

The 33rd ICAO Assembly has adopted Resolution
A33/7 introducing the concept of a ‘balanced approach’
thereby establishing a policy
to noise management,
approach to address aeroplane noise,
including inter-
national guidance for the introduction of operating
restrictions on an airport-by-airport basis. The ‘balanced
aircraft noise management
approach’
comprises four principal elements and requires careful
assessment of all different options to mitigate noise,
including reduction of aeroplane noise at
source,
land-use planning and management measures, noise
abatement operational procedures and operating restric-
tions, without prejudice to relevant legal obligations,
existing agreements,
and established
current
policies.

laws

(6) OJ L 240, 24.8.1992, p. 8.

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(11)

The balanced approach is an important step towards
achieving noise-reduction. But if effective and sustain-
able noise-reduction is to be achieved, more stringent
technical standards, such as more stringent noise stan-
dards for aircraft combined with action to take noisy
aircraft out of service, will also be necessary.

(12) A Directive of

transport has

the European Parliament and of

the
Council on the assessment and management of environ-
mental noise (1) which is a horizontal measure covering
all modes of
introduced a common
approach for the assessment and management of envir-
onmental noise. It aims at monitoring the environmental
problem caused by noise in major agglomerations and
in the vicinity of main transport
infrastructures,
including airports, at making information on environ-
mental noise and its effects available to the public, and
at requesting competent authorities to draw up action
plans with a view to preventing and reducing environ-
mental noise where necessary and to preserving environ-
mental noise quality where it is good.

(13)

(14)

(15)

(16)

(17)

(18)

Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the
assessment of the effects of certain public and private
projects on the environment (2) already provides for a
comprehensive assessment of airport projects including
noise mitigation. This can be considered as meeting, in
part, the assessment requirements of this Directive in the
case of airport infrastructure extension projects.

Such an assessment may demonstrate that the objectives
can only be achieved by a restriction on new services
and the gradual withdrawal of aeroplanes that meet the
Chapter 3 noise certification standard by a small margin.

The particular noise problems of airports which are
located in the centre of
(‘city
airports’) should be recognised by allowing for the intro-
duction of more stringent rules.

large conurbations

It
is necessary to finalise the indicative list of city
airports on the basis of information to be provided by
Member States.

The extension of airport infrastructure should be facili-
tated with a view to safeguarding the sustainable devel-
opment of air transport activities.

It is necessary to allow for the continuation of existing
airport-specific noise management measures and for
certain technical changes to operating restrictions of a
partial nature.

(19) Undue economic hardship for operators from devel-
oping countries should be avoided by allowing for the
granting of exemptions where appropriate, and such
provision should include safeguards to avoid abuse.

(20)

It is necessary to ensure transparency and consultation
of all interested parties regarding proposals for noise-
related measures,
including the introduction of new
operating restrictions.

(21) Operators should be given a reasonable period of
advance notice when new operating restrictions are to
be introduced.

(22)

(23)

(24)

(25)

Provisions should be adopted to ensure the right of
appeal against the introduction of operating restrictions
to an appeal body, which may be a court.

The Directive is in accordance with the principles of
subsidiarity and proportionality as set out in Article 5 of
the Treaty. The introduction of operating restrictions at
Community airports can contribute to the objective of
preventing a worsening of the noise climate around
airports, but there is a possibility of introducing distor-
tions of competition. The objective can therefore be
more effectively achieved by the Community by means
of harmonised rules on the introduction of operating
restrictions as part of the noise management process.
The Directive confines itself to the minimum required in
order to achieve this objective and does not go beyond
what is necessary for that purpose.

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 (3).

The measures provided for by this Directive supersede
those provided by Council Regulation (EC) No 925/
1999 of 29 April 1999 on the registration and opera-
tion within the Community of certain types of civil
subsonic jet aeroplanes which have been modified and
recertificated as meeting the standards of volume 1, Part
II, Chapter 3 of Annex 16 to the Convention on Inter-
third edition (July 1993) (4).
national Civil Aviation,
That Regulation should therefore be repealed,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

Objectives

The objectives of this Directive are

(a) to lay down rules for the Community to facilitate the
introduction of operating restrictions
in a consistent
manner at airport level so as to limit or reduce the number
of people significantly affected by the harmful effects of
noise;

(b) to provide a framework which safeguards internal market

requirements;

(1) This Directive is being drawn up and will apply after its adoption.
(2) OJ L 175, 5.7.1985, p. 40. Directive as amended by Council Direc-

tive 97/11/EC, (OJ L 73, 14.3.1997, p. 5).

(3) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
(4) OJ L 115, 4.5.1999, p. 1.

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(c) to promote development of airport capacity in harmony

with the environment;

of a partial nature, affecting the operation of civil subsonic
aeroplanes according to time period;

(d) to facilitate the achievement of specific noise abatement

objectives at the level of individual airports;

(e) to enable measures to be chosen from those available with
the aim of achieving maximum environmental benefit in
the most cost-effective manner.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purpose of this Directive:

(a) ‘Airport’ shall mean a civil airport within the Community
which has more than 50 000 movements of civil subsonic
jet aeroplanes per calendar year (a movement being a
take-off or landing), taking into consideration the average
of the last three calendar years before the application of the
rules of this Directive to the airport in question;

(b) ‘City airport’ shall mean an airport in the centre of a large
conurbation, of which no runway has a take-off run avail-
able of more than 2 000 metres and which provides only
point-to-point services between or within European states,
where a significant number of people are objectively
affected by aircraft noise and where any incremental
increase in aircraft movements represents a particularly
high annoyance in the light of the extreme noise situation.
These airports are listed in Annex I. That Annex may be
amended in accordance with the procedure laid down in
Article 13(3);

(c) ‘Civil subsonic jet aeroplanes’ shall mean aeroplanes with a
maximum certificated take-off mass of 34 000 kg or more,
or with a certified maximum internal accommodation for
the aeroplane type in question consisting of more than 19
passenger seats, excluding any seats for crew only;

(d) ‘Marginally compliant aircraft’ shall mean civil subsonic jet
aeroplanes, that meet the certification limits laid down in
Volume 1, Part II, Chapter 3 of Annex 16 to the Conven-
tion on International Civil Aviation by a cumulative margin
of not more than 5EPNdB (Effective Perceived Noise in
decibels), whereby the cumulative margin is the figure
expressed in EPNdB obtained by adding the individual
margins (i.e. the differences between the certificated noise
level and the maximum permitted noise level) at each of
the three reference noise measurement points as defined in
Volume 1, Part II, Chapter 3 of Annex 16 to the Conven-
tion on International Civil Aviation;

(f) ‘Interested parties’ shall mean natural or legal persons
affected or likely to be affected by, or having a legitimate
interest in the introduction of, noise reduction measures,
including operating restrictions;

(g) ‘Balanced approach’ shall mean an approach under which
Member States shall consider the available measures to
address the noise problem at an airport in their territory,
namely the foreseeable effect of a reduction of aircraft noise
at source, land-use planning and management, noise abate-
ment operational procedures and operating restrictions.

Article 3

Competent authorities

Member States shall ensure that there are competent authorities
responsible for matters
this
Directive.

falling within the scope of

Article 4

General rules on aircraft noise management

1. Member States shall adopt a balanced approach in dealing
with noise problems at airports in their territory. They may
also consider economic incentives as a noise management
measure.

2. When considering operating restrictions, the competent
authorities shall take into account the likely costs and benefits
of the various measures available as well as airport-specific
characteristics.

3. Measures or a combination of measures taken under this
Directive shall not be more restrictive than necessary in order
to achieve the environmental objective established for a specific
airport. They shall be non-discriminatory on grounds of
nationality or identity of air carrier or aircraft manufacturer.

4.
Performance-based operating restrictions shall be based
on the noise performance of the aircraft as determined by the
certification procedure conducted in accordance with Volume 1
of Annex 16 to the Convention on International Civil Aviation,
third edition (July 1993).

Article 5

Rules on assessment

(e) ‘Operating restrictions’ shall mean noise related action that
limits or reduces access of civil subsonic jet aeroplanes to
an airport. It includes operating restrictions aimed at the
withdrawal
from operations of marginally compliant
aircraft at specific airports as well as operating restrictions

1. When a decision on operating restrictions is being
considered, the information as specified in Annex II shall, as far
as appropriate and possible,
for the operating restrictions
concerned and for the characteristics of the airport, be taken
into account.

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to Directive 85/337/EEC,

2. Where airport projects are subject to an environmental
impact assessment pursuant
the
assessment carried out in accordance with that Directive shall
be considered as meeting the requirements of paragraph 1,
provided that the assessment has taken into account as far as
to this
possible the information as specified in Annex II
Directive.

Article 6

Rules on the introduction of operating restrictions aimed
at the withdrawal of marginally compliant aircraft

If

including
the assessment of all available measures,
1.
operating restrictions of a partial nature, carried out
in
conformity with the requirements of Article 5 demonstrates
that the achievement of the objectives of this Directive requires
the introduction of restrictions aimed at the withdrawal of
marginally compliant aircraft, the following rules shall apply
instead of the procedure laid down in Article 9 of Regulation
(EEC) No 2408/92 at the airport under consideration:

(a) six months after the completion of the assessment and
decision on the introduction of an operating restriction, no
services over and above those operated in the corres-
ponding period of the previous year shall be allowed with
marginally compliant aircraft at that airport;

(b) not less than six months thereafter, each operator may be
required to reduce the number of movements of his
marginally compliant aircraft serving that airport at an
annual rate of not more than 20 % of the initial total
number of these movements.

in terms of

2.
Subject to the rules on assessment of Article 5, city
airports listed in Annex I may introduce measures that are
more stringent,
the definition of marginally
compliant aircraft provided that these measures do not affect
civil subsonic jet aeroplanes that comply, through either orig-
inal certification or recertification, with the noise standards in
Volume 1, Part II, Chapter 4 of Annex 16 to the Convention
on International Civil Aviation.

Article 7

Existing operating restrictions

Article 5 shall not apply to:

(a) operating restrictions that were already established on the

date of entry into force of this Directive;

(b) minor technical changes to operating restrictions of a
partial nature that do not have any significant cost implica-
tions for the airline operators at any given Community
airport and that have been introduced after the entry into
force of this Directive.

Article 8

Directive, be exempted from the provisions of Article 6,
provided that:

(a) such aircraft, granted noise certification to the standards
specified in Volume 1, Part II, Chapter 3 of Annex 16 to
the Convention on International Civil Aviation, were used
at the airport concerned in the Community between 1
January 1996 and 31 December 2001 (‘the reference
period’), and

(b) these aircraft were, in the reference period, on the register
of
they
the developing country concerned and that
continue to be operated by a natural or legal person estab-
lished in that country.

Article 9

Exemption for aircraft operations of an exceptional nature

In individual cases, Member States may authorise, at airports
situated in their territory, individual operations of marginally
compliant aircraft which could not take place on the basis of
the other provisions of this Directive.

This exemption is limited to:

(a) aircraft whose individual operations are of such an excep-
tional nature that it would be unreasonable to withhold a
temporary exemption;

(b) aircraft on non-revenue flights for the purpose of altera-

tions, repair or maintenance.

Article 10

Consultation and transparency

Member States shall ensure that, for the application of Articles
5 and 6, procedures for consultation of interested parties are
established in accordance with applicable national

law.

Article 11

Prior notice

1. Member States shall ensure that on the introduction of
including an
any new operating restriction, public notice,
explanation of
taking into
account the appropriate elements of the balanced approach, is
given to all

the reasons for introducing it

interested parties:

(a) six months before the entry into force of the measures

referred to in Article 6(1)(a);

(b) one year before the entry into force of
referred to in Article 6(1)(b) and (2);

the measures

(c) in the case of measures under Article 6, two months before
scheduling-

the relevant

the scheduling-conference for
period.

Exemption for aircraft registered in developing countries

Marginally compliant aircraft registered in developing countries
shall, for a period of 10 years after the entry into force of this

2. Member States shall forthwith inform the other Member
States and the Commission of any new operating restriction
within the meaning of this Directive that they have decided to
introduce at an airport in their territory.

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Article 12

Right of appeal

marginally compliant aircraft as laid down in Article 2(d) in
favour of a more stringent requirement.

Member States shall ensure the right to appeal against the
measures taken pursuant to Article 6 and Article 7(b) before an
appeal body other than the authority that has adopted the
contested measure, in accordance with national legislation and
procedures.

Article 13

Committee

The Commission shall be assisted by the Committee insti-

1.
tuted by Article 11 of Regulation (EEC) No 2408/92.

The Committee may be consulted by the Commission on

2.
any matter concerning the application of this Directive.

3. When 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.

4.
The Committee shall take note of the assessments under-
taken by the Member States in accordance with Article 5, and
of the measures taken, or intended to be taken, on the basis of
these assessments.

Article 14

Information and revision

Member States shall upon request submit information on the
application of this Directive to the Commission.

No later than five years after the entry into force of this
Directive the Commission shall report to the European Parlia-
ment and to the Council on the application of this Directive.

report

The
proposals for revision of the Directive.

shall be accompanied, where necessary, by

It shall contain an assessment of
Directive,

this
in particular the need to revise the definition of

the effectiveness of

Article 15

Repeal

Regulation (EC) No 925/1999 shall be repealed as from the
date of entry into force of this Directive.

Article 16

Implementation

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and
administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
Directive by 28 September 2003 at the latest. They shall forth-
with inform the Commission thereof.

When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain
a reference to this Directive or 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.

Article 17

Entry into force

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

Article 18

Addressees

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 26 March 2002.

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

The President

P. COX

F. ÁLVAREZ-CASCOS FERNÁNDEZ

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ANNEX I

List of city airports

Berlin-Tempelhof

Stockholm Bromma

London City

Belfast City

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ANNEX II

Information referred to in Article 5(1)

1.

C u r r e n t

i n v e n t o r y

1.1. A description of the airport including information about its capacity, location, surroundings, air traffic volume and

mix and runway mix.

1.2. A description of the environmental objectives for the airport and the national context.

1.3. Details of noise contours for the current and previous years — including an assessment of the number of people

affected by aircraft noise. Description of the computational method used to develop the contours.

1.4. A description of measures to reduce aircraft noise already implemented: for example,

information on land-use
planning and management; noise insulation programmes; operating procedures such as PANS-OPS; operation
restrictions such as noise limits, night limits/curfew, noise charges; preferential runway use, noise preferred routes/
track-keeping, and noise monitoring.

2.

F o r e c a s t w i t h o u t n e w m e a s u r e s

2.1. Descriptions of airport developments (if any) already approved and in the programme, for example,

increased

capacity, runway and/or terminal expansion, and the projected future traffic mix and estimated growth.

2.2. In case of airport capacity extension, the benefits of making that additional capacity available.

2.3. A description of effect on noise climate without further measures, and of those measures already planned to lessen

that noise impact over the same period.

2.4. Forecast noise contours — including an assessment of the number of people likely to be affected by aircraft noise —

distinguish between established residential areas and newly constructed residential areas.

2.5. Evaluation of the consequences and possible costs of not taking action to lessen the impact of increased noise — if it

is expected to occur.

3. A s s e s s m e n t o f a d d i t i o n a l m e a s u r e s

3.1. Outline of the additional measures available as part of the different options mentioned in Article 4(1) and in
particular an indication of the main reasons for their selection. Description of those measures chosen for further
analysis and fuller information on the cost of introducing these measures; the number of people expected to benefit
and timeframe; and a ranking of the overall effectiveness of particular measures.

3.2. Assessment of the cost/effectiveness or cost/benefit of the introduction of specific measures, taking account of the
socio-economic effects of the measures on the users of the airport: operators (passenger and freight); travellers and
local communities.

3.3. An overview of the possible environmental and competitive effects of the proposed measures on other airports,

operators and other interested parties.

3.4. Reasons for selection of the preferred option.

3.5. A non-technical summary.

4.

R e l a t i o n w i t h t h e D i r e c t i v e o f t h e E u r o p e a n P a r l i a m e n t a n d o f t h e C o u n c i l o n t h e a s s e s s m e n t
a n d m a n a g e m e n t o f e n v i r o n m e n t a l n o i s e

4.1. When and where noise maps or action plans have been prepared under the terms of the said Directive these will be

used for providing the information required in this Annex.

4.2. The assessment of noise exposure (i.e. establishment of noise contours and number of people affected) shall be
carried out using at least the common noise indicators Lden and Lnight as specified in the abovementioned Directive,
where available.