Article 1 Objectives
1. The aim of this Directive shall be to define a common approach intended to avoid, prevent or reduce on a prioritised basis the harmful effects, including annoyance, due to 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 upon 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 the major sources, in particular road and rail vehicles and infrastructure, aircraft, outdoor and industrial equipment and mobile machinery. To this end, the Commission shall submit to the European Parliament and the Council, no later than 18 July 2006, appropriate legislative proposals. Those proposals should take into account the results of the report referred to in Article 10(1).
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 work places 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 ( 1 ); (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) ‘L den ’ (day-evening-night noise indicator) shall mean the noise indicator for overall annoyance, as further defined in Annex I; (g) ‘L day ’ (day-noise indicator) shall mean the noise indicator for annoyance during the day period, as further defined in Annex I; (h) ‘L evening ’ (evening-noise indicator) shall mean the noise indicator for annoyance during the evening period, as further defined in Annex I; (i) ‘L night ’ (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 100 000 persons 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 L den 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 30 000 train passages per year; (p) ‘major airport’ shall mean a civil airport, designated by the Member State, which has more than 50 000 movements per year (a movement being a take-off or a landing), excluding those purely for training purposes on light aircraft; (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 L den or L night , and where appropriate L day and L evening , 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 18 July 2005.
Article 5 Noise indicators and their application
1. Member States shall apply the noise indicators L den and L night 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 L den and L night 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 L den and L night . 4. No later than 18 July 2005, 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 L den and L night and where appropriate, L day and L evening , 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 L den and L night shall be determined by means of the assessment methods defined in Annex II. 2. The Commission shall, through a revision of Annex II, establish common assessment methods for the determination of L den and L night . Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 13(3). Until those methods are adopted, Member States may use assessment methods adapted in accordance with Annex II and based upon the methods laid down in their own legislation. In such case, the Member States 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 30 June 2007 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 250 000 inhabitants and for all major roads which have more than six million vehicle passages a year, major railways which have more than 60 000 train passages per year and major airports within their territories. No later than 30 June 2005, and thereafter every five years, Member States shall inform the Commission of the major roads which have more than six million vehicle passages a year, major railways which have more than 60 000 train passages per year, major airports and the agglomerations with more than 250 000 inhabitants within their territories. 2. Member States shall adopt the measures necessary to ensure that no later than 30 June 2012, 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 31 December 2008, 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 18 July 2008 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 six million vehicle passages a year, major railways which have more than 60 000 train passages per year and major airports; (b) agglomerations with more than 250 000 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 18 July 2013, 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 ( 2 ), 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. No later than 18 January 2004, the Commission will submit a report to the European Parliament and the Council containing a review of existing Community measures relating to sources of environmental noise. 2. 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. 3. 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. 4. 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 18 July 2009.
Article 11 Review and reporting
1. No later than 18 July 2009, 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 metre 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 L den and L night 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 to technical and scientific progress The Commission shall adapt point 3 of Annex I and Annexes II and III to this Directive to technical and scientific progress. Those measures, designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive, shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 13(3).
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 in Article 5(6) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at three months. 3. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5a(1) to (4) and Article 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.
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 18 July 2004. 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.