Audible response

EU: Common methodology for noise assessment

EU wants new method to calculate noise. Disproportionately short deadline makes it impossible to understand the consequences The European Commission has published its proposal for a Council Directive on the establishment of a common methodology for noise assessment. The Ministry of the Environment has sent the proposal for consultation with a disproportionately short deadline of less than 24 hours. Danish Ports notes that the proposal means that Denmark will have to use a different calculation method than the one previously used. It is recommended that "Denmark votes in favor of the Commission's proposal to establish a common method for assessing noise". However, "Denmark expects to retain the existing method for use by the authorities in the planning of residential areas, construction of roads and railways etc. This may present a communicative challenge in relation to citizens." Danish Ports agree with this. But the communicative challenge already starts here: How can Denmark vote for a new method and yet expect to retain the existing method for use in planning? Danish Ports sees a need for the environmental authorities to become more aware of the consequences of changing the method. Danish Ports does not have the prerequisites to relate to the technical content of the consultation. Therefore, it is also impossible for us to say anything qualified about the consequences, including what impact changing the method will have in terms of precision and comparability compared to previous measurements and noise mapping. We cannot assess the extent to which it may have an impact on noise action plans and regulatory requirements, but note that the Danish Environmental Protection Agency believes that there will be no significant financial or administrative consequences for the business community. It remains to be seen what less significant consequences there may be, but an assessment of the consequences in relation to planning could be desirable. Only then can an assessment of the level of protection and planning implications be given. We understand that as a result of an agreement between KL, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Industry, Business and Financial Affairs, an agreement has been reached on future committee work as a result of the Business Forum's proposal 17 on noise regulations. It should be considered whether the proposed noise directive should be included in this work.