Environmental noise directive: Do's and don'ts for the second round

Abstract

July 2008, the first round of noise mapping, requested under the European Environmental Noise Directive, should have come to an end. Although many member states have not quite finished yet, first conclusions can be drawn from the available results. The process of strategic noise mapping and action planning has raised discussions about the principles of the Directive. The quality of the results is affected by the variety in assessment methods applied. Often, basic approaches requested by the Directive, such as a dialogue with the affected citizens, have not been successful or even not implemented at all. Action plans in general show little ambition and will most likely have little effect. The European Commission, responsible for the control of noise at the source, is committed to interpret the results as an incentive for their future policy. Therefore, it is essential that a better quality be achieved in the second round. Suggestions for improvement are presented.