ind_noise

8/9/2019 ind_noise

1/62

NSw Industrial Noise Policy

i

NSW Industrial

Noise Policy

8/9/2019 ind_noise

2/62

NSW Industrial Noise Policy

ii

Published by:

Environment Protection Authority

5961 Goulbu rn Street

PO Box A290

Syd ney South 1232

Phone: (02) 9995 5000 (switchboar d)

Phon e: 131 555 (information & p ublications requ ests)

Fax: (02) 9995 5999

E-mail: [email protected]

Web: ww w.epa.nsw.gov.au

The EPA is pleased to allow th is material to be rep ro-

du ced in wh ole or in part, provided th e meaning is

unchanged and its source, pu blisher and au thorship

are acknowledged.

ISBN 0 7313 2715 2

EPA 00/ 1

For techn ical information about th is report, please contact:

Noise Policy Section

Environm ental Policy Branch

Environment Protection Auth ority

Phone: (02) 9995 5000

Cover photo: Australian Picture Library/ Corbis

Janu ary 2000

Printed on recycled p aper

8/9/2019 ind_noise

3/62

NSw Industrial Noise Policy

iii

Contents

1 Policy framew ork ............................................................................................................................................ 1

2 Ind ustr ial noise criteria ................................................................................................................................ 14

3 Determinin g existin g noise levels ............................................................................................................... 22

4 Modifying factor ad justments .................................................................................................................. 28

5 Meteorolog ical condition s ........................................................................................................................... 31

6 Pred icting noise levels & deter minin g impacts ......................................................................................... 36

7 Mitigating noise from industr ial sou rces ................................................................................................... 38

8 Negotiation process ...................................................................................................................................... 43

9 Con sent/ licence condition s ........................................................................................................................ 47

10 Ap plying the p olicy to existing ind ustria l p rem ises ................................................................................ 49

11 Review ing perform ance .............................................................................................................................. 51

12 Policy eva luation and review ..................................................................................................................... 54

References ............................................................................................................................................................ 55

Defin ition s of terms ............................................................................................................................................. 56

Ap pendix AWorked case stu dies .................................................................................................................. 60

Ap pen d ix BApp lying the backgr ound noise po licy ................................................................................... 68

Append ix CProcedu re for assessing n oise increase due to tem peratu re inversions .............................. 73

Ap pend ix DEstim ating noise increase due to inversion s .......................................................................... 77

App end ix EMethod s for determ ining the frequency of tempera ture inversions ..................................... 78

App end ix FPercentage occurrence of F-class temperature inversions in win ter

in the Hunter Valley, NSW ................................................................................................................................ 85

8/9/2019 ind_noise

4/62

NSW industrial noise policy

1

1 Policy framework

1.1 Overview of the policy

The adv erse effects of noise on comm un ities are w ell

repor ted in the literatur e (for review see Berglund &

Lindvall, eds, 1995). These vary from direct effects

(includ ing noise-ind uced hea ring loss, speech

interference, sleep disturbance and an noyan ce), to

ind irect or second ary effects, such as long-term

effects on physical and m ental health as a resu lt of

long-term ann oyance and p rolonged disturbance to

sleep. The World H ealth Organ ization defines

health as a state of complete ph ysical, mental, and

social well-being, not just as the absence of disease

(WHO 1947). Comm un ity reaction to noise has beennoted as a likely indirect cause of ad verse health

effects (Job 1996).

The overall aim is to allow the need for indu strial

activity to be balanced w ith the desire for qu iet in

the commu nity.

The broad operating objectives involve requ irements

to protect, restore and enh ance the quality of the

environment in New South Wales. In so d oing, the

EPA must h ave regard to the need to maintain

ecologically sustainable developm ent, redu ce the

risks to hum an health and prevent the degrad ation

of the environm ent. This policy seeks to prom ote

environmental well-being th rough preventing and

minimising n oise. It p rovides the framework and

process for deriving n oise limit cond itions for

consents and licences that w ill enable the EPA to

regulate premises that are schedu led und er the

Protection of the Environment Operations A ct 1997.

The specific policy objectives are:

to establish n oise criteria that wou ld p rotectthe commun ity from excessive intrusive noise

and preserve am enity for specific land uses

these are set out in Section 2

to use the criteria as the basis for derivingpr oject specific noise levels

to prom ote uniform m ethods to estimate andmeasure n oise imp acts, including a

procedu re for evaluating meteorological

effectsthese are set ou t in Sections 3 to 6

to outline a range of m itigation measures that

could be u sed to m inimise noise impactsthese are set out in Section 7

to provide a formal process to guide th edetermina tion of feasible and reasonable

noise limits for consents or licences that

reconcile noise impacts with the econom ic,

social and environmental considerations of

industr ial developmentthis is covered in

Section 8

to carry out fun ctions relating to th e

prevention, minimisation and control of

noise from premises schedu led un der th e Act.

1.2 Who is the policy for?

The policy is techn ical in orientat ion and is directed

toward s ind ustry, acoustic practitioners an d con-

sent auth orities that requ ire a d egree of technical

detail to assess impacts properly and develop

mitigation method s.

Responsibility for ap plying th e policy lies with:

the land-use planner (such as a local counciland the Departm ent of Urban Affairs and

PlanningDUAP), through taking account

of likely imp acts at an early stage in th e

planning process so that incomp atible

developments are app ropriately located; also,

in recognising the importance of maintaining

separation distances between industry an d

residen ts. In locating poten tially noisy

developm ents, it is essential to recognise that

mitigation of the effects of noisy activities

once these are established w ill be limited by

cost and design factors.

the land-use man agers and regu lators (suchas local governm ent, DUAP and the EPA),

wh o act as determining auth orities and as

regu lators of land-use activities. Their role is

in provid ing adequ ate regulation of noise to

preserve amenity and in ensuring

compliance w ith n oise conditions.

8/9/2019 ind_noise

5/62


2

the noise-source proponent an d man ager,throu gh consideration of noise issues at the

planning stage of a project and th rough direct

control of the noise impacts by the

app ropriate combination of n oise

managem ent tools and engineering d esign ofthe source.

1.3 Scope of the policy

The policy is specifically aim ed at assessing noise

from indu strial noise sources scheduled u nd er the

new Protection of the Environment Operations A ct

1997. It will be used as a gu ide by Environment

Protection Au thor ity (EPA) officers for setting

statu tory limits in licences for these sources. Local

government is an independ ent regulator for noiseun der th e legislation, and th us has discretion in

dealing w ith noise with in its area of respon sibility.

The policy is designed for large and complex

indu strial sources and specifies substantial mon i-

toring and assessment p rocedu res that may not

always be applicable to the typ es of sources coun-

cils need to add ress. How ever, local governm ent

may find the p olicy helpful in the carrying-out of its

land -use plann ing respon sibilities (for example, the

setting of targets in local and regional environmen-

tal plans).

In general, the typ es of noise sources dealt w ith in

the p olicy are:

facilities (encompassing all the activitiestaking place within the property boun dary of

the facility) usu ally comp rising man y sources

of soun d, includ ing

ind ustrial pr emises

extractive indu stries

comm ercial p remises

wareh ousing facilities

maintenance and repair facilities

individu al indu strial sources, such as

heating, ventilating and air conditioning

(HVAC) equipm ent

rotating machinery

impacting mechanical sources

other mechanical equipm ent and machin-

ery such as conveyors

mobile sources confined to a p articular

location, such as d raglines and hau l

trucks.

The po licys focus is on the noise emitted from

indu strial sites and how this may affect the amenityof nearby receivers. Interna l or occupational noise

within any workp lace is a separate issue adm inis-

tered by the WorkCover Authority un der the Occupa-

tional Health and Safety A ct 1983.

Examp les of noise sources that are N OT dealt w ith

by the p olicy are:

transportation corridors (roadw ays, railwaysand air corridors)

motor sport facilities

construction activities

noise sources covered by regu lations(domestic/ neighbourhood noise).

Noise from vehicle movements associated with an

indu strial source is covered by the ind ustrial noise

source policy if the vehicles are not on a pu blic

road . If the vehicles are on a pu blic road , theEnvi-

ronmental Criteria for Road Traffic Noise (EPA 1999)

apply.

In pa rticular instan ces specific noise criteria may be

defined for sources where the standard app roach is

not ap prop riate, for example, wind farms.

1.4 Applying the policy

The assessment of noise impact is comp lex and

subjective, and is rarely (if ever) able to be consid-

ered in isolation from oth er social and economic

aspects of a developm ent or activity. The policyout lines processes to help strike a feasible and

reasonable balance between the establishment an d

operation of ind ustrial activities and the p rotection

of the comm un ity from noise levels that are intru-

sive or u npleasant.

In summ ary, noise managem ent involves the follow-

ing main steps:

1. Determining the project specific noise levels

for intru siveness and am enity that are

relevant to the site or the area (Section 2).

8/9/2019 ind_noise

6/62


3

2. Measuring and determining existing back-

groun d an d am bient noise levels, using the

method relevant to the expected level of

impact (as outlined in Section 3).

3. Where the proposed development is expected

to prod uce annoy ing noise characteristics,

adjustments are to be app lied to th e noise

levels produced by th e development in

question (as outlined in Section 4).

4. Predicting or measuring the noise levels

prod uced by the developm ent in question,

having regard to m eteorological effects (such

as wind , temp erature inversions) (see Section

5).

5. Comparing the predicted or measured noise

level with the p roject-specific noise levels andassessing impacts (Section 6).

6. Considering feasible and reasonable noise

mitigation strategies where th e project-

specific noise levels are exceeded (Section 7).

7. Negotiation between the regulatory/ consent

authority and the proponent and between the

comm un ity and th e proponent to evaluate the

economic, social and environm ental costs

and benefits from th e proposed developm ent

against the noise imp acts (Section 8).

8. The regula tory/ consent authority sets

statutory comp liance levels that reflect the

achievable and agreed n oise limits for th e

development (Section 9).

9. Monitoring of environmental noise levels

from the development to d etermine comp li-

ance with the consent/ licence cond itions

(Section 11).

1.4.1 Principles underpinning the

noise criteria

The indu strial noise source criteria set dow n in

Section 2 are best regarded as planning tools. They

are not m and atory, and an ap plication for a noise-

prod ucing developm ent is not determined p urely on

the basis of comp liance or otherw ise with the noise

criteria. Num erous other factors need to be taken

into accoun t in the determina tion. These factors

includ e econom ic consequences, other environmen-

tal effects and the social wor th of the development.

The criteria help to determine consent/ licence

conditions because they provide information on thelikely effect of any environ mental noise associated

with the d evelopment.

Within th e commu nity, there is a very large range of

hum an reaction to noise. There are those in the

commun ity who are very sensitive to noise. This

noise-sensitive sector of the p opu lation will react,

often strongly, to intru ding noises that are barely

aud ible within th e overall noise environment, orwill have an expectation of very low environm ental

noise levels. On the other h and , there are those

within the commu nity who find living in noisy

environments, such as near major indu stry, on m ain

roads or un der aircraft flight path s, an acceptable

situation. The bu lk of the p opu lation lies within

these two extremes, being u naffected by low levels

of noise and being p repa red to accept levels of noise

that are comm ensurate with living in an urban ,

industr ialised society.

The criteria in this docum ent (Section 2) have been

selected to p rotect at least 90 per cent of the pop ula-

tion living in the vicinity of ind ustr ial noise sour ces

from th e adverse effects of noise for at least 90 per

cent of the time. Provid ed th e criteria in this docu-

ment ar e achieved, then it is un likely that most

people w ould consider the resultant n oise levels

excessive. In those cases w hen the project-specific

noise levels are not, or cann ot be, achieved , then it

does not autom atically follow that those p eople

affected by the noise wou ld find the noise un accept-

able.

1.4.2 Existing versus new development

The assessment p rocedu res in the p olicy can ap ply

to any one of the following three situation s:

new d evelopment impactsfor example, newindu strial prem ises proposed near an

existing residential area

mod ification of an existing developm ent and

its imp actfor example, proposed exp ansion

of an existing indu strial premises

noise associated with existing developm ent.

Existing noise sources

The app lication of the criteria to existing sources of

noise wou ld occur wh ere significant mod ifications

(such as to warrant serious and/ or ongoing d evel-

opm ent consent or EPA approval) are mad e to

existing d evelopm ents or w here complaints are

received.

8/9/2019 ind_noise

7/62


4

In app lying the policy to existing operations it is

acknowledged that th e scope for app lying feasible

and reasonable mitigation m easures to existing

noise sources is usually far more limited than for

new d evelopments. Careful considerat ion of noise

impacts and the feasible and reasonable mitigationmeasu res available at these sites may result in less

stringent noise limits than wou ld ideally app ly.

Sometimes the resultan t noise limits w ill be above

the criteria. The assessment and man agement of

existing p remises is dealt with in Section 10.

Greenfield sites

In assessing developm ents prop osed for greenfield

(und eveloped ) areas, the po licy allows controlled

increases above backgroun d noise levels in a similar

man ner to previous p olicy and p lanning practice.

(See case stud y (a) inAppendix A , Section A2.)

1.4.3 Prevention of noise impacts

Avoiding co-location of incompatible uses

Jud icious land use and project p lanning can often

prevent potential noise problems from occurring.

This policy should be used to consider the imp lica-

tions of prop osing or allowing n ew noise-sensitive

developments near n oise generators and of prop os-

ing or allowing new noise-generating d evelopm ents

near established noise-sensitive developmen ts such

as schools, hospitals or homes. The criteria will help

in the first instan ce to ident ify sites where it wou ld

be d ifficult, if not imp ossible, to avoid noise imp acts

over time, and w ill therefore help in an informed

process for m aking d ecisions about land-use zoning

or site selection by developers.

The criteria can also be used to ident ify the need for

planning and building-design mitigation measures

for managing the relationship between noise-generating activities and n oise-sensitive develop-

ments.

The types of strategies that could be u sed by p lan-

ners and project prop onents includ e:

considering n oise impacts wh en plann ingthe development of areas, and incorporating

suitable measures such as:

spatial separation betw een noisy activities

and noise-sensitive areas throu gh locatingless-noise-sensitive land uses (active

recreation areas or access ways) in high

noise areas

taking ad vantage of any natural topo-

graph ical features that can be u sed to

screen noise impacts when p lanning land

use in an area

subd ivision layout to maximise the area

shielded from noise

using intervening structures such as mu lti-

level buildings to act as barr iers. Build ings

used as bar riers shou ld incorporate noise-

quietening principles into th eir building

design to ensure app ropriate internal

conditions.

incorporating ap prop riate building d esign tominim ise noise imp acts, for example:

including acoustic design p rinciples w hen

planning landscaping for a site by examin-

ing the suitab ility of earth berm s, walls or

fences to act as barr iers

building d esign to locate noise-insensitive

areas such as kitchens, storage areas and

laund ries toward s the noise source;

minimising the size and n um ber of win-

dow s oriented tow ards the n oise source;

replacing conventiona l roof design with

eaves by a flat roof with p arapets; using

the building structure to shield ou tdoor

areas

using construction techniques that have

good attention to sealing air gaps arou nd

doors and w indow s exposed to noise;

using solid core doors; and using thicker

wind ow glass or double glazing.

It is also imp ortant that there be a m echanism for

provid ing information on existing noise impactsfrom ap proved facilities to members of the pu blic

seeking to move into areas, in order to avoid un real-

istic expectations of noise amen ity in affected areas.

1.4.4 Noise criteria and assessment

Two criteria

The policy sets two separate noise criteria to meet

environmental noise objectives: one to account for

intrusive noise and the other to p rotect the am enity

of particular land uses.

8/9/2019 ind_noise

8/62


5

Assessing intrusiveness

For assessing intrusiveness, the background noise

needs to be measu red. An objective procedure is

outlined in Section 3.1.

The intrusiveness criterion essentially mean s that

the equivalent continuous (energy-average) noise

level of the source should not be more th an 5 d eci-

bels (dB) above the measured background level.

Assessing amenity

The amen ity assessment is based on n oise criteria

specific to land use and associated activities. (See

Table 2.1.) The criteria relate only to ind ustr ial-type

noise and do n ot include road , rail or comm un ity

noise. The existing noise level from ind ustry ismeasu red . (See Section 3.2.) If it app roaches the

criterion value, then noise levels from n ew ind us-

tries need to be d esigned so that th e cumulative

effect does not prod uce noise levels that wou ld

significant ly exceed th e criter ion. (See Table 2.2.) For

high-tra ffic areas there is a separate amen ity crite-

rion (Section 2.2.3). The cum ulat ive effect of noise

from ind ustrial sources needs to be considered in

assessing impact (Section 2.2.4).

Project-specific noise levels

For a particular p roject, the more stringent of the

intru sive or the amenity criteria sets the p roject-

specific noise levels for that project. Generally, the

intrusive criterion ap plies for all new indu stries

un til an area begins to become more developed,

causing increased noise levels. At this stage th e

amenity criterion starts to take over as th e app lica-

ble criterion. Where several new ind ustr ies are

prop osed for a new area, care mu st be taken to

ensure that equ itable levels are set for each p ro-

posed indu stry (Section 2.2.4).

Accounting for annoying noise characteristics

A noise source may exhibit a range of p articular

characteristics that increase annoyance, such as

tones, imp ulses, low frequency noise and interm it-

tent noise. Where this is the case, an ad justm ent is

applied to the source noise level received at an

assessment p oint before it is comp ared w ith the

project-specific noise level to accoun t for th e add i-

tional annoyance caused by the p articular charac-

teristic. App lication of these mod ifying factors isdescribed in Section 4.

Accounting for the effect of meteorology on noise

levels

When assessing noise imp acts, the project-specific

noise levels are expected to ap ply u nd er weather

conditions char acteristic of an area. These cond i-tions may include calm, wind and tem peratu re

inversions. In this regard, the p olicy add resses the

increase in noise that results from atm ospheric

temperatur e inversions and wind effects.

The policy sets the following pr ocedure for assess-

ing temperatur e inversions (Section 5.2):

an initial screening test is done to id entifywh ether any further assessment of

meteorological effects on noise is war ranted

wh ere the effect is significant, the prop onen tmay choose to use default meteorological

values to pr edict the increased noise levels.

These defaults have been provided so that

poten tially costly on-site mon itoring can be

avoided.

alternatively, the propon ent can reject thedefault values and d erive parameters by

direct measurem ent

the increased n oise level is then p red ictedusing the meteorological parameters

established.

This procedu re is based on an extensive study of the

prevalence of temp erature inversions and d raws on

substantial field d ata.

The noise levels predicted un der existing meteoro-

logical conditions for each receiver are then com -

par ed with the p roject-specific noise levels, to

establish w hether the m eteorological effect will

cause a significant im pact.

Wind may also increase noise levels down wind of

the sou rce. The p olicy specifies a pr ocedure for

assessing the significance of wind effects, and a

default wind speed to be used in the assessment

wh ere these effects are foun d to be significant

(Section 5.3).

1.4.5 Applying noise mitigation strategies

Where noise impacts are predicted, noise-sourceman agers shou ld seek to achieve the criteria by

app lying feasible and reasonable mitigation m eas-

8/9/2019 ind_noise

9/62


6

ures. In th is context feasibility relates to engineering

considerations and wh at can p ractically be built,

and reasonableness relates to the app lication of

jud gement in arriving at a decision, taking into

accoun t the following factors:

noise mitigation benefitsamou nt of noisereduction p rovided, num ber of people

protected

cost of mitigationcost of mitigation versusbenefit p rovided

commu nity viewsaesthetic imp acts andcomm unity wishes

noise levels for affected land usesexisting

and futu re levels, and changes in noise levels.

A range of mitigation measu res is described in

Section 7.

1.4.6 Negotiating noise impacts

If, after all feasible and reasonab le mitigation

measures are ap plied, the resultant noise emissions

exceed the p roject-specific noise levels, then th e

residu al level of impact need s to be balanced

against any social and econom ic benefits derived

from the sou rce of the noise. Negotiation between

the regulatory/ consent authority, the comm unity

and the pr oponent to establish achievable noise

limits is described in Section 8. This negotiation

process is in ad dition to th e direct consultation th at

norm ally occurs th roughou t the imp act assessment

process between the prop onent and the commu nity.

1.4.7 Setting noise limits in consent andlicence conditions

In setting n oise limits, the regulatory/ consentau thor ities need to consider the techn ical practicali-

ties of mitigation, the amoun t of noise reduction

prov ided , comm un ity views, benefits arising from

the development and cost of achieving the project-

specific noise levels recommend ed h ere, along with

the environ mental consequ ences of exceeding the

project-specific noise levels. It is impor tant that the

project-specific noise levels are not au tomatically

interpreted as cond itions for consent, withou t

consideration of the other factors. In many in-

stances, it may be appr opr iate to set noise limits for

a d evelopment above the p roject-specific noise levels

recomm ended in this document (Section 9).

1.4.8 Land acquisition

Licences issued by the EPA do not contain cond i-

tions related to land acquisition.

The noise criteria contained in th is document have

notbeen derived for the p urp ose of land acquisition.

As previously stated they are d esigned to protect

against intrusiveness and to p reserve am enity, and

dr ive a process of app lying all feasible and eco-

nomically r easonable avoidance and mitigation

measu res. To meet th ese purposes the noise criteria

have been based aroun d identifying the up per

(rather than th e average) level of imp act. They seek

to restrict the risk of peop le being high ly annoyed to

less than 10 per cent, and to m eet this for at least 90

per cent of the time.

Resolving noise problems thr ough land acquisition

is viewed as an op tion of last resort. Where land

acquisition is app lied, this is done via the d evelop-

ment consent p rocess, wh ich is adm inistered by th e

relevant p lanning au thority. The d evelopm ent

consent m ay contain conditions related to land

acquisition.

The determ ination of when p rojected noise levels

are so high and intractable that circumstances

warr ant land acquisition will depend on a range of

factors. No ise is only on e of those. In some in-

stances, disadvantages in one area may be traded

against benefits in another area. The w eighing-up of

all of the relevan t factors is the role of the plann ing

system.

It is imp ortan t to reiterate there is no single identifi-

able noise level that a ll people will find acceptable

or un acceptable. Ann oyance increases with increas-

ing noise, but at an y given noise level there will be a

wid e variation in th e range of individu al reactions

to noise. In extreme cases health can be affected, bu tgenerally it app ears that ann oyance can occur well

before there is a question of health imp act.

The various assessed levels of imp act around an

indu strial noise source could be described as a zone

of affectation, characterised by annoyance. Within

this zone could lie a mu ch smaller zone closer in to

the source where imp acts were greater and justified

acquisition of residences. The bord er between the

annoyan ce and acquisition zones would be repre-

sented by a noise level well above both th e back-

ground level and the EPAs criteria. If the noise from

8/9/2019 ind_noise

10/62


7

industry were su fficient to alter the character of the

area substantially and/ or cause health imp acts,

then land acquisition might be an option. Land

acquisition is rarely a pr actical app roach in heavily

developed areas.

1.4.9 Monitoring of noise levels againstconsent or licence conditions

Monitoring of environmental noise levels from a

development to d etermine compliance with the

limits set in consent/ licence cond itions is essential

for proper management of noise sources. Procedures

to man age non-comp liance with consent/ licence

conditions are also provided (Section 11).

1.5 Summary of approach

Figure 1.1 provid es an overview of the m ain proc-

esses involved in ap plying the p olicy. The flow

charts in Figures 1.2 to 1.6present a step-by-step

guide to how the p olicy works, with references to

relevant sections in the p olicy.

Worked case stud ies out lining the assessment

pr ocess are set out inAppendix A .

8/9/2019 ind_noise

11/62


8

Figure 1.1. Applying the pol icy

Project-specific noise levels

Assessment

Mitigation

Decision-making process

Conditions

Monitoring environmental noise performance

Derive project-specific noise levels from applying monitored existing noise levels to the general noisecriteria for intrusiveness and amenity. (See Figure 1.3for details.)

Proponent estimates likely noise impacts under existing weather conditions (this may includetemperature inversion conditions where they are significant) and includes any adjustment for noise

characteristics.

If project-specific noise levels are exceeded, proponent examines feasible and reasonable mitigationmeasures, considering community preferences, and determines resultant noise levels.

Where resultant noise levels exceed project-specific noise levels, then the regulatory/consentauthority either accepts the resultant level or negotiates if a better level of control is thought

achievable.Where project-specific noise levels are exceeded, proponent assesses the level of impact by

comparing resultant noise levels against the project-specific noise levels (for example, noise exceedsproject-specific noise levels by X dB, number of people affected, likely impacts on activities, % of time

impact occurs) and factoring-in economic and social benefits from the development.

Consent and licence conditions are set after carefully considering the benefit of full compliance withthe project-specific noise levels, balanced against the overall social, economic and environmentalbenefits of the development. The consent and licence conditions may include the noise limits to be

achieved and other related conditions, but acquisition levels may be included in only the developmentconsent.

Compliance with consent/licence conditions.

8/9/2019 ind_noise

12/62


9

Figure 1.2. The overall process of assessing and managing noise impacts

Section 6.3.1

Noise reduction plan/licence

conditions (Section 10)

Note: Dotted line indicates an optional process

Determine project-specific noise

levelsFigure

1.3

(Section 2)

Predict level of noise from the source and

determine noise impactFigure 1.4

(Section 6)

Modifying factors

(Section 4)

MeteorologyFigure 1.5

(Section 5)

Consider mitigation options(Section 7)

Acceptable level of impact

negotiatedFigure 1.6

(Section 8)

Noise impactpresent?

YES

NO

Project-specificnoise levels

met?

NO

YES

Consent/licence condition

determinedFigure 1.6

(Section 9)

Performance monitoring(Section 11)

Existing noise levels

(Section 3)

New sitesExisting sites

8/9/2019 ind_noise

13/62


10

Figure 1.3. Determining the project-specific noise levels

Note: Dotted line indicates an optional process

Measure existing noise levels (Section 3)

i.e. existing background (LA90) (Section 3.1) andexisting ambient industrial noise (L

Aeq) (Section 3.2)

Determine representative existing noise levels frommeasured levels (Section 3)

i.e. rating background level (RBL) (Section 3.1.2), existingambient level (Section 3.2)

Determine intrusiveness criteria (Section 2.1)

i.e. LAeq,15 minute

RBL plus 5 dB

Determine amenity criteria (Section 2.2)

1. Determine type of receiver (Table 2.1, Sections 2.2.1 &2.2.2)

2. Determine acceptable noise level (ANL) for receiver, LAeq,period

(Tables 2.1 & 2.2)

3. Amenity criterion is either:

'ANL' where existing ambient level is more than 6 dBbelow ANL; or

'< ANL' where existing ambient level isbetween ANL+1 dB and ANL 6 dB; or

'existing ambient level minus 10 dB' where existingambient level is greater than ANL+1 dB and existingnoise levels are unlikely to decrease in future; or

'ANL 10 dB' where existing ambient level is greaterthan ANL+1 dB and existing noise levels are likely todecrease in future; or

'existing traffic noise level (LAeq, period) minus 10 dB'where existing traffic noise level is 10 dB above ANL

(high traffic criterion, Section 2.2.3)

Project-specific noise levels applicable to project

The lower of the intrusive criterion and

the amenity criterion.

Where the proponent desires, moredetailed monitoring and analysis linking

existing noise levels and weatherconditions can be made.

(Section 6.3.1)

Determine alternative intrusivenesscriteria for specific weather conditionsidentified in any detailed monitoring

analysis that was done.

Determine alternative amenity criteria forspecific weather conditions identified in

any detailed monitoring analysis that was

done.

8/9/2019 ind_noise

14/62


11

Figure 1.4. Predicting source noise level and determining impact

Identify noise parameters (Section 6.1)

i.e. noise sources, receivers, site features etc

Determine weather conditions relevant to siteunder which criteria apply

(Section 5)Figure 1.5

e.g. temperature inversions and wind speeds

Predict noise levels from the source (Section 6)

Prediction process should take account of all sourceand site parameters and relevant weather

conditions.

Does the noise sourcecontain annoyingcharacteristics?

(Section 4)

Yes

No

Compare predicted noise level with project-specific noise levels

Apply relevantcorrection factor to

predicted noise level(Table 4.1 &Section 4.3)

Does the predictednoise level exceedthe project-specific

noise levels?

Yes

No

No noise impact expected(Go to Figure 1.6)

Noise impacts expected(Go to Figure 1.6)

8/9/2019 ind_noise

15/62


12

Figure 1.5. Assessing the likelihood of wind and temperature inversions

enhancing noise impacts at a site

1For the p urp ose of determining the frequency of inversions, night is defined as the period from 1 hou r before

sunset to 1 hour after sunrise, taken to be 6 pm to 7 am.

Consider wind and temperature inversions(Section 5)

Is this > 30% of thetime at night

1in winter?

(Section 5.2)

Do initial screening testAssume specified default values for wind (Section 5.3.2)and temperature inversions (Section 5.2) in the prediction

of noise levels from the source.

Noise impact

predicted?

No

Yes

No further consideration ofweather conditions required

Determine percentage occurrence of temperatureinversions (Section 5.2& Appendix C)

Based on existing data (Bureau of Meteorology)

or site measurements

No

Yes

No further consideration of windand/or temperature inversions needed

Temperature inversions and associateddrainage wind are a site feature

Noise predictions should take account of temperatureinversions using either default inversion values specified in

Section 5.2or measured site-specific data

Wind is a site feature

Noise predictions should take account ofwind using wind speeds specified in

Section 5.3.2or measured site-specific data

Determinepercentage of time

the wind direction isfrom source to

receiver

Is this > 30% of the time inany period and season?

(Section 5.3.1)

Yes

Temperatureinversions Wind

8/9/2019 ind_noise

16/62


13

Figure 1.6. Negotiation process and consent/licence limits

No

Yes

Negotiation not requiredproject-specific noise levelsbecome consent conditions

(Section 9.0)

Negotiations between proponent andregulator for acceptablelevel of impact

(Section 8.2)

Negotiations between proponent and theaffected community for an agreedlevel of

impact (Section 8.3)

Agreedlevel of impact becomes noiselimit on consent or licence condition

(Section 9)

Acceptable level of impact becomesnoise limit on consent or licence

condition (Section 9)

Project-specific noiselevels exceeded even

with proposedmitigation measures

Or alternatively,

Proponent demonstrates that project- specificnoise levels cannot be feasibly met, andregulator is satisfied that this is the case

8/9/2019 ind_noise

17/62


14

2 Industrial Noise Criteria

The assessment p rocedu re for indu strial noise

sources has two comp onents:

controlling intrusive noise imp acts in theshort term for residences

main taining no ise level amen ity forparticular land u ses for residences and other

land u ses.

In assessing the noise imp act of ind ustr ial sour ces,

both components m ust be taken into account for

residen tial receivers, but, in m ost cases, only one

will become the limiting criterion and form thepr oject-specific noise levels for the ind ustrial sou rce.

The worked case stud ies inAppendix A show how

both components work together.

The procedu res specified in the policy differentiate

between low- and high-noise-risk developments,

with simpler procedures available for d evelopm ents

with low noise risk. Differentiation between th ese

two typ es of developm ents is on the basis of magn i-

tud e (for examp le, level of noise expected) and

extent of impact (for examp le, expected area of

affectation). Hence, a d evelopment that is likely to

make excessive noise affecting a large area can be

considered to be a high-risk developm ent, and vice

versa for low risk.

2.1 Intrusive noise impacts

The intrusiveness of an indu strial noise source may

generally be considered acceptable if the equivalent

continuous (energy-average) A-weighted level of

noise from the source (represented by th e LAeq

descriptor), measured over a 15-minu te period, does

not exceed the background noise level measured in

the absence of the source by more than 5 dB.

To accoun t for the temp oral variation of background

noise levels, the m ethod outlined in Section 3.1 is

recommend ed for determining the background

noise level (rating backgrou nd levelRBL) to be

used in the assessment. This appr oach aims to

result in the intrusive noise criterion being m et for at

least 90% of the time p eriods over w hich annoyan ce

reactions can occur (taken to be p eriods of 15minutes).

Adjustm ents are to be app lied to th e level of noise

prod uced by th e source that is received at theassessment p oint before comparison w ith this

criterion. Where the noise source conta ins annoy ing

characteristicssuch as prominent tonal compo-

nents, imp ulsiveness, interm ittency, irregularity and

dom inant low-frequency contentadjustments as

outlined in Section 4 apply.

Procedures for considering meteorological effects

such as temp erature inversions and w ind are

outlined in Section 5 to account for characteristic

weather conditions und er which the intrusiveness

criterion app lies.

The intrusiveness criterion is sum marised as

follows:

LAeq, 15 minute

rating background level plus 5

where :

LAeq, 15 minute

represents the equivalent

continuous (energy average) A-weighted

sound pressure level of the source over 15

minutes. Other descriptors may be used asappropriate provided they can be justified

on the basis of being characteristic of the

source (see Sect ion 2.3). This is to be

assessed at the most-affected point on or

within the residential property boundary

or, if that is more than 30m from the

residence, at the most-affected point w ithin

30 m of the residen ce.

Rating background level is the backgroun d

level to be used for assessment p urp oses as

deter-mined by the method outlined in Section3.1.

A 15-minute sampling period is used when m easur-

ing the level of intrusive noise. There has been n o

definitive research to quan tify the time period over

wh ich annoyance to intrusive no ise varies. Clearly,

ann oyance reactions are likely to occur over p eriods

of less than a d ay, and th ere will be variations

dep ending on ind ividual tolerance and characteris-

tics of the noise. The 15-minute p eriod h as been

selected as a reasonable estima te of the period over

wh ich an noyance may occur. This time period has

been used by the EPA for some time, and experience

8/9/2019 ind_noise

18/62


15

has shown that it is a reasonable app roach to

assessing intrusive noise impacts.

In some ru ral situations, the rating background

level may be the same for the d ay and night. In these

cases, it is recognised that excur sions of noise abovethe intrusiveness criterion du ring the day w ould

not usu ally have the same impact as they would at

night. This is du e to the m ore sensitive natu re of

activities likely to be disturbed a t night (for example,

sleep and relaxation).

2.2 Protecting noise amenity

To limit continu ing increases in noise levels, the

maximum ambient noise level within an ar ea from

indu strial noise sources should not norm allyexceed the acceptab le noise levels specified in Table

2.1. Meeting th e acceptable noise levels in Table 2.1

will protect against noise imp acts such as speech

interference, commu nity annoyance and, to some

extent, sleep d isturban ce. These levels represent

curren t best practice for assessing industr ial noise

sources, based on r esearch and a review of assess-

ment practices used overseas and within Au stralia.

Table 2.1 also includ es recomm ended maximum

noise levels for d ifferent land uses. These recom-

mend ed maximum values provide guidance on an

up per limit to the level of noise from industr y. In all

cases it is expected that a ll feasible and reasonable

mitigation m easures would be app lied before the

recommend ed m aximum noise levels are referenced.

In some instan ces it may not be possible to achieve

even the recommend ed maximum noise level, even

after all feasible and reason able noise mitigation

has been ap plied . Such cases are expected to have a

large adverse noise imp act. Where a p roposed

development exceeds the recomm ended m aximu mnoise levels in Table 2.1, substant ial benefits in other

areas, including a high d egree of social worth ,

wou ld need to be demonstrated.

Where the existing noise level from ind ustr ial noise

sources is close to the acceptab le noise level, the

noise level from an y new source(s) mu st be control-

led to pr eserve the amen ity of an area. If the total

noise level from ind ustr ial sour ces already exceeds

the acceptable noise level for the area in qu estion,

the LAeq

noise level from an y new source should n ot

be greater than:

10 dB below the acceptable noise level if thereis a reasonable expectation that existing

levels may be redu ced in the futur e; or

10 dB below the existing level if there is no

such reason able expectation that existinglevels will fall (for examp le, in cases where

surrou nd ing areas are fully developed) and

no significant changes to land use are

expected.

Table 2.2 sets out the imp lications of this require-

ment for noise from ind ustr ial sources.

Adjustments are to be ap plied to the source noise

level received at the assessment point, before com-

parison w ith this criterion, where the n oise source

contains annoying characteristics such as promi-nent tonal comp onents, impu lsiveness, intermit-

tency, irregularity and dom inant low-frequency

content, as outlined in Section 4.

Procedures for considering meteorological effects

such as temperatu re inversions and w ind are

outlined in Section 5 to account for characteristic

weather conditions under w hich the amenity

criteria app ly.

In determ ining the existing LAeq

noise level from

industry, noise from tran sportation-related sources

(road traffic, rail traffic and aircraft) may be ex-

clud ed. Criteria for noise from these sources are

defined separately. Research and exp erience ind i-

cates that residents distinguish and respond

separately to noise from road traffic, rail traffic,

aircraft and indu strial sources, rather than register-

ing an overall noise annoyance related to the total

LAeq

noise level. Section 3.2 gives guidan ce on how to

determ ine existing n oise levels. Practical means by

wh ich tr ansportation n oise (road traffic in p articu-

lar) may be exclud ed from a m easurem ent of exist-ing noise levels are pr esented in Section 3.2.1.

Where existing traffic noise levels are continu ously

high, th e existing level of the traffic noise (deter-

mined by using the method ou tlined in Section 3.2)

can be 10 dB or more above the recommended

acceptab le noise level shown in Table 2.1. In these

situations the ind ustrial source may be inau dible,

even wh ere it produ ces noise levels higher than the

acceptab le noise level. The criterion to be ap plied in

this case is set out in Section 2.2.3.

8/9/2019 ind_noise

19/62


16

Table 2.1. Amenity criteria

Where there is a reasonable expectation th at the

cumu lative noise level from ind ustr ial sources

could increase in future (for example, through the

development of further n ew sources), this should be

considered in setting noise levels, as outlined in

Section 2.2.4.

Recommended LAeq

noise levels from industrial noise sources

Type of Receiver IndicativeNoise Amenity

Area

Time of Day Recommended LAeq.

Noise Level,dB(A)

(see Note 8 in Section 2.2.1)

(see Notes in Section 2.2.1)Acceptable

(See Note 11)

RecommendedMaximum

(See Note 11)

Day 50 55

Evening 45 50

Rural

Night 40 45

Day 55 60

Evening 45 50

Suburban

Night 40 45

Day 60 65

Evening 50 55

Urban

Night 45 50

Day 65 70

Evening 55 60

Residence

Urban/IndustrialInterface forexistingsituations only Night 50 55

School classroominternal All Noisiest 1-hour periodwhen in use

35(See Note 10)

40

Hospital ward

internalexternal

AllAll

Noisiest 1-hour periodNoisiest 1-hour period

3550

4055

Place of worshipinternal All When in use 40 45

Area specifically reserved forpassive recreation (e.g.National Park)

All When in use 50 55

Active recreation area (e.g.school playground, golfcourse)

All When in use 55 60

Commercial premises All When in use 65 70

Industrial premises All When in use 70 75

8/9/2019 ind_noise

20/62


17

Table 2.2. Modification to acceptable no ise level (ANL)* to account for existing level

of industrial noise

difficult, then external noise levels 10 dB

above the internal levels app ly.

5. In assessing noise levels at passive and

active recreational areas, the n oise level is to

be assessed at the most-affected poin t within

50 m of the area bound ary.

6. Types of receivers are defined as follows.

Section 2.2.2 offers some guid ance for the

selection of the ap propriate receiver types.

Ruralmeans an area w ith an acoustical

environment that is dom inated by natural

soun ds, hav ing little or no road traffic. Such

areas may includ e:an agricultu ral area, except th ose used for

intensive agricultu ral activities

a rural r ecreational area such as resort

areas

a wilderness area or national park

an area generally characterised by low

backgrou nd noise levels (except in th e

imm ediate vicinity of industr ial noise

sources).

This area may be located in eith er a rural,

rural-residential, environment protection

Total existing LAeq

noise level fromindustrial sources, dB(A)

Maximum LAeq

noise level for noise from new sourcesalone, dB(A)

Acceptable noise level plus 2 If existing noise level is likely to decreasein future:acceptable noise level minus 10

If existing noise level is unlikely to decreasein future:existing level minus 10

Acceptable noise level plus 1 Acceptable noise level minus 8

Acceptable noise level Acceptable noise level minus 8

Acceptable noise level minus 1 Acceptable noise level minus 6






< Acceptable noise level minus 6 Acceptable noise level* ANL = recommended acceptable LAeq noise level for the specific receiver, area and time of day from Table 2.1.

2.2.1 Notes to support the noise leveltables

1. The recommended acceptable noise levels

refer only to noise from indu strial sources.

How ever, they refer to n oise from a ll such

sources at the receiver location, and not on ly

noise du e to a specific project und er consid-

eration. The levels represent ou tdoor levels

except where otherw ise stated.

2. In assessing noise levels at residences, the

noise level is to be assessed at the most-

affected p oint on or within th e residential

property bound ary or, if this is more than 30

m from th e residence, at the m ost-affected

point w ithin 30 m of the residence.

3. In assessing noise levels at commercial or

industr ial premises, the noise level is to be

assessed at the most-affected point on or

within the property bound ary.

4. Where internal noise levels are specified in

Table 2.1, they refer to the noise level at the

centre of the hab itable room that is most

exposed to th e noise and are to app ly with

wind ows op ened su fficiently to p rovide

adequ ate ventilation. In cases w here thegaining of internal access for monitoring is

8/9/2019 ind_noise

21/62


18

zone or scenic protection zone , as defined

on a council zoning m ap (Local Environ-

mental Plan (LEP) or other p lanning

instrument).

Suburbanan area th at has local traffic with

characteristically interm ittent t raffic flows or

with som e limited commerce or industry. This

area often has the following characteristics:

decreasing noise levels in the evening

period (18002200); and / or

evening ambient noise levels defined by the

natural environment and infrequent

hu man activity.

This area may be located in either a rural,

rural-residential orresidentialzone, as

defined on an LEP or other planning

instrument.

Urbanan area w ith an acoustical environ-

ment that:

is dom inated by urban hu m or ind ustrial

source noise

has throu gh traffic with characteristically

heavy an d continuou s traffic flows

during p eak periods

is near comm ercial districts or ind ustr ialdistricts

has any combination of the above,

wh ere urban hum means the aggregate

sound of many unid entifiable, mostly

traffic-related sou nd sources.

This area may be located in either a rural,

rural-residential orresidential zone as

defined on an LEP or other planning

instrumen t, and also includ es mixed land -

use zones such as m ixed comm ercial andresidential uses.

Urban/industrial interfacean area defined

as for ur ban above that is in close proximity

to indu strial prem ises and th at extend s out to

a point wh ere the existing ind ustrial noise

from th e source has fallen by 5 d B. Beyond

this region the am enity criteria for the ur ban

category app lies. This category may be used

only for existing situations. (See examp le of

how this category is used inAppendix A,

Section A5).

Commercialan area defined as a business

zone, except neighbourhood business zone,

on an LEP.

Industrialan area defined as an industrial

zone on an LEP. For isolated residen ces

within an indu strial zone the ind ustrial

amenity criteria wou ld u sually apply.

7. Time of day:

day:the p eriod from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm

Mond ay to Saturday; or 8:00 am to 6:00 pm

on Sun days and pu blic holidays

evening: the p eriod from 6:00 pm to 10:00

pm

night:the remaining p eriods.

(These periods may be varied w here

app ropr iate, for examp le, see Section 3.3.)

8. The LAeq

noise level for a specific period

represents the LAeq

level calculated or m eas-

ured over the applicable day, evening or

night p eriod (i.e. LAeq, period

) except w here

otherw ise stated (for examp le, school class-

room, hospital).

9. If existing noise levels from industrial noise

sources already ap proach or exceed th e

recommen ded acceptable noise levels in Table2.1, any increase in these levels shou ld be

strictly limited , as described in Table 2.2.

10. In the case where existing schools are af-

fected by n oise from existing ind ustr ial noise

sources, the acceptable LAeq

noise level may

be increased to 40 dB LAeq(1hr)

.

11. The acceptable and recommended maximum

LAeq

noise levels can provid e a guid e to

app lying the negotiation process set out in

Section 8. While negotiation between the

prop onent and the commu nity for an agreed

noise level can occur at any tim e, typically

the prop onent w ould n egotiate with the EPA

wh ere noise-level emissions fall between the

acceptable and recommend ed maximum. For

site levels beyond the recommended m axi-

mu m levels, the proponent w ould need to

negotiate directly with the comm un ity.

2.2.2 Determining the receiver type

The selection of the typ e of receiver is impor tant in

determining wh ich noise amenity criteria level

shou ld ap ply. In most instances the receiver cat-

8/9/2019 ind_noise

22/62


19

egory for the am enity criteria will be straightfor-

ward , but in some localities, land-use patterns or

zones may be am biguous in term s of selecting the

app ropriate receiver type. As a guide the following

issues may be considered in d eciding the land use

category for a receiver:

The primary m eans for identifying th e type ofreceiver is how the receiver area is zoned in

the relevant planning instrum ent. The

standard terminology used in planning

instrumen ts is usually limited to ru ral, rural-

residential and residential in respect of areas

wh ere dw ellings wou ld norm ally be located.

These terms do not differentiate suburban

and urban residential uses, and this is

discussed in the next point.

In deciding w hether a receiver area should beallocated to the subu rban or urban categories,

it may be necessary to examine the

predom inant manner of developm ent in the

area and the p revailing noise climate. The

definitions of subu rban and u rban provid e

guidan ce on this. For examp le, small

commu nities such as villages or towns are

likely to be closer in noise climate to a

subu rban category. Urban receivers are

usually those located in d ensely pop ulatedareas where m ulti-dw elling developments

such as town hou ses, units, flats and

apartm ents are the norm. Areas near noise

generator s (for examp le, road s, railways and

indu stry) wou ld norm ally be considered to be

urban-receiver type for the purp ose of the

amen ity criteria. The ru ral category is more

representative of more isolated single

dw ellings on large lots (for example, 2

hectares). The p opu lation d ensity for an area

may p rovide a guide as to wh ich of the

residential receiver categories ap ply.

In certain instances zoning for an area willallow mu ltiple uses. For instance, some areas

are classified as Rural with ind ustry-related

land u ses permissible, thu s allowing r ural

uses (including a d welling) and indu stries in

the same area. In term s of noise the

perm issible uses may not be entirely

comp atible, and w here this mix of

development is permitted it may not always

be possible to achieve the desirable noisecriteria for receivers. In these instances the

noise levels that are achievable w ill be

defined by app lying all feasible and

reasonab le mitigation measu res. It is highly

recomm ended that the relevant consent

authority consider th e need to incorporate

noise mitigation measures in noise-sensitive

developments wh ere such mixeddevelopm ent is permitted (for examp le, new

residences prop osed near ind ustrial or

commercial areas).

Other features of a locality that should alsobe considered includ e:

predom inant land use, includ ing the

prop ortion of the different land uses

with in the potentially noise-affected zone

strategic planning objectives or plan s torezone (for examp le, as included in REPs,

SEPs, Urban Developm ent Program )

proximity of land-use to neighbou ring

industries and busy roads

any perman ent existing shielding provid ed

by natural topograph y or otherwise

between existing noise sources and sensi-

tive receivers

existing ambient noise levels in the area.

2.2.3 Assessment in areas of high trafficnoise

The level of transpor tation noiseroad traffic noise

in particularmay be h igh enough to make noise

from an industrial source effectively inaud ible, even

though the LAeq

noise level from that ind ustrial

noise source may exceed the recommended accept-

able noise level show n in Table 2.1. In such cases,

the amenity criterion for noise from th e ind ustr ial

noise becomes the LAeq, period(traffic)

min us 10 dB. This

criterion replaces the amen ity criterion in Tables 2.1an d 2.2 above, and is used in the same way th e

amen ity criterion is used, that is, in conjunction

with the intru siveness criterion, to determ ine the

limiting criterion. General and mor e specific case

studies show ing how the high traffic criterion

works are includ ed inAppendix A. (See Section A1

and case study (c) in Section A 2.)

This criterion m ay be app lied only if all the follow-

ing apply:

1. Traffic noise is identified as the dominantnoise source at the site.

8/9/2019 ind_noise

23/62


20

2. The existing traffic noise level (determined

using the procedur e outlined in Section 3.2) is

10 dB or more above the Acceptable noise

level for the area.

3. It is highly unlikely the road traffic noise

levels would decrease in the futu re.

In all other cases the existing noise level of ind us-

trial sources may be determined by one of the

method s outlined in Section 3.2.1 for comparison

with Table 2.2 in the determ ination of the amenity

criterion.

This method needs to be used w ith care for d ifferent

assessment p eriods. For examp le, although this

criterion may be valid in high-traffic areas for the

day assessment period, it may not be ap prop riatefor the evening or night assessment p eriods

because the requ irement in (2) above has not been

met. Where th is is the case, one of the methods

outlined in Section 3.2.1 may be u sed for the evening

and night periods.

2.2.4 Assessment in developing areas

The recommended acceptable noise level from Tables

2.1 an d 2.2 rep resents the id eal total level of noise

from indu stry that should be met by a prop osed

development an d any futu re, potentially noise-prod ucing, developm ents in the area. In m ost

instances where a nu mber of indu strial develop-

ments are p roposed for an area, the amenity criteria,

wh ich set a cap for the cumu lative noise from

indu stry, will be more stringent than th e intrusive

criteria. Thus project-specific noise levels for indi-

vidual d evelopments w ill be derived from the

amenity criteria.

Where several developments are prop osed for an

area, these are to be assessed as a grou p. This

holistic approach allow s pr oject-specific noise

levels to be set for a prop osed ind ustrial develop-

ment, so that the total impact from all proposed an d

potential ind ustrial developm ents does not cause

amenity to d eteriorate. In ad dition, this approach

provides an equitable distribution in the burd en of

meeting th e noise criteria.

The effectiveness of this app roach d epend s on it

being known at the time of assessment w hat d evel-

opm ents will be moving into the locality, and wh en

the various developm ents are proposed to com-mence. Generally, the app roach shou ld ap ply w hen

knowledge of futu re developments has advan ced to

the point of a d evelopm ent app lication being

known to the regulatory/ consent authority, or

wh ere details of the proposal have been pu blished.

Imp lementa tion of this holistic app roach involves

the following steps in relation to impacts at the mostsensitive receivers:

1. Determining the number of development

prop osals to be assessed.

2. Determining the amenity level according to

Tables 2.1 an d 2.2.

3. Determining the project-specific noise levels

to be achieved by each development at the

receiver, so that, when each is added logarith-

mically, the resu ltant to tal level of noise

received from indu stry at any affected re-ceiver w ill meet the amenity level identified at

Step 2.

As the assessment is performed at the receiver, the

level of noise received from each d evelopment

dep end s on its distance from th e receiverwith

more remote developments able to emit higher noise

levels at the source.

This type of approach has been app lied by som e

forward -thinking local councils to pr ovide an early

ind ication to potential developers of expected noise-

emission requirements, and to guaran tee the noise

amenity in adjacent areas. (Examp les of where this

app roach has been used include Ingleburn indu s-

trial estate, Campbelltown; Glend enning indu strial

estate, Blacktown an d Breamer ind ustr ial estate,

Mittagong.)

2.2.5 Effects of changing land use

Land uses can changesometimes dram atically

with an increase in indu strial activities, constru c-

tion of new freeways, or the development of new

residen tial suburbs. A consequ ence of this is that

the land-use designation of an area may change.

Changes in designation occur as a result of urban-

type residential subd ivisions in a village or rur al

area with few residen ces, or the encroachmen t of

indu strial developm ents near residential areas and

vice versa.

In such cases, the pr imary d ecision by planning

authorities to cause or allow th e development

wou ld take account of the many consequent imp li-cations. As developm ents introduce increased

8/9/2019 ind_noise

24/62


21

activities, they also increase environ men tal noise

levels. Therefore, previously low am bient noise

levels will not be m aintained, and assessments of

noise sources for control purp oses should be mad e

against the acceptab le noise level relevant to the

mod ified land use.

2.3 Using the LAeq

descriptor

The LAeq,

descriptor app lies for both the intrusive-

ness criterion (LAeq, 15 minute

) and the am enity criterion

(LAeq, period

). In this policy, the equ ivalent continu ous

(energy average) level (A-weighted) of the industrial

source is of interest (not necessarily that of the total

noise environment). In certain circum stances other

noise descriptors may be more ap prop riate for

measurement/ assessment or comp liance pu rposes,dep end ing on the characteristics of the noise source.

For example, where the noise emissions from the

source of interest are constant (e.g. fan n oise) and

the am bient noise level has a degree of variability

(for example, due to traffic), the LA90

descriptor m ay

adequ ately describe the noise source and be m uch

easier to m easure/ assess. In th ese cases, it may be

preferable to replace the LAeq

descriptor.

If the descriptor chosen for measurement is not the

LAeq

, reasons for the variation should be presented

in the n oise assessment r eport.

2.4 Project-specific noise levels

After determining the relevant noise levels from the

intru sive and amen ity criteria, the p roject-specific

noise levels can be assigned.

The project-specific noise levels reflect the most

stringent noise level requirem ent from th e noise

levels derived from both the intrusive and amenity

criteria. They set the benchmar k against whichnoise imp acts and the n eed for noise mitigation are

assessed.

App lying the m ost stringent requirement as the

project-specific noise levels ensures that both

intrusive noise is limited and amenity is protected.

The case stud ies presented inAppendix A show

definitively how project-specific noise levels are

identified.

8/9/2019 ind_noise

25/62


22

3.1.1 Methods of determining background

noiseTable 3.1 summ arises the two p rocedu res for deter-

mining background noise: the long-term method to

be used at the planning and ap proval stage, and th e

short-term m ethod for complaint and comp liance

assessment purposes. The long-term method in-

volves a two-step process to determ ine the rating

background level. The short-term method involves

only one step.Appendix B gives a detailed d escrip-

tion of instrum entation requ irements, and proce-

du res for measurem ent and analysis for each

method.

The long-term method for determining background

noise (summ arised in Table 3.1) is designed to

ensure th at the criterion for intrusive noise will be

achieved for at least 90% of the time p eriods over

wh ich an noyance reactions m ay occur (taken to be

period s of 15 minu tes).

Definitions and techn ical considerat ions to help

users interpret and ap ply the methods are set down

in the following sections.

3.1.2 Definitions to support methodologies

Extraneous noisenoise due to activities that are

not typ ical of the area. These activities might includ e

constru ction, changes in road , rail or air traffic du e

to holiday p eriods, and sp ecial events such as

concerts or sporting events. Normal d aily road

traffic and other tr ansportation n oise are not consid-

ered to be extraneous noise. Where an ind ustry in an

indu strial estate wishes to extend its operations, the

measured backgroun d n oise level may includ e the

general hum of ind ustries nearby, but should n ot

include an y noise from th e site itselfor noise from

any intru sive sources nearby that could affect the

LA90,15 minu te

value. As a reasonable guide, any extra-

neou s noise present for at least half of a 15-minute

monitoring p eriod, and having the potential to affect

the LA90,15 minu te

value, should be excluded .

3 Determining existing noise levels

3.1 Determining background noise for

the intrusiveness criterionThe backgrou nd noise level is defined here as the

un derlying level of noise present in am bient noise

wh en all unu sual extraneous noise is removed .

Sound levels contr ibuting to backgrou nd levels can

include sound from nearby traffic (see Section 3.1.3),

bird s, insects, anim als, machinery and similar

sources if these sound s are a norm al feature of the

location. The background noise level is considered

to be represented by the LA90,15 minu te

descriptor. In

comparison, the rating background level (as defined

in Section 3.1.2) is the single-figur e backgroundnoise level derived from monitoring L

A90, 15 minutesover

a representative period of time. The rating back-

groun d level is used for assessment p urp oses.

Backgroun d noise levels need to be determ ined

before intru sive noise can be assessed. The back-

groun d n oise levels to be measured are those that

are pr esent at th e time of the noise assessment and

withou t the subject developm ent operating. Hence,

for the assessment of mod ifications to an existing

developm ent, the noise from th e existing develop-

ment shou ld be exclud ed from background noise

measurements.

When assessing a new developmen t, it is imp ortant

to und ertake sufficient mon itoring of background

noise to allow intrusive noise to be assessed ad -

equately. How ever, wh en assessing noise levels in

response to comp laints, the background noise level

du ring the p eriod of the complaint is of interest, and

mon itoring over a shorter length of time m ay be

appropriate.

Before embarking on a n oise-monitoring pr ogram,

the potential for the d evelopment/ activity to cause

noise annoyance, and th e need for accurate noise

assessment, should be considered . Two m easure-

men t regimes are p resented below. The first is a

definitive method to be used wh en assessing devel-

opm ents w ith the p otential for significant n oise

impact. The second is a shorter method that can be

used for comp laint-assessment pu rposes.

8/9/2019 ind_noise

26/62


23

Table 3.1. Methods for determining background noise

Features Method

Long-term Short-term

When to use During planning and approval stagewhere there is significant potential fornoise impact, e.g. extractive industriesand industrial developments.

During complaint assessments, compliancechecks, when determining the effect ofbackground noise on a source noisemeasurement and for low riskdevelopments.

Type of monitoring Continuous sampling accompanied byperiods of operator-attended monitoring

Individual samplingoperator-attendedmeasurements

Length ofmonitoring

Equivalent to one weeks worth of validdata covering the days and times ofoperation of the development (SeeSection 3.5)

15-minute measurements covering thetimes of operation of the development

Conditions formonitoring

Average wind speed < 5 m/s1, no rain, no

extraneous noise (See Sections 3.1.2and 3.4)

Average wind speed < 5 m/s1, no rain, no

extraneous noise (See Sections 3.1.2 and3.4)

Monitoring location Most or potentially most affected noise-sensitive location/s

Most affected noise-sensitive locationand/or location of complaint

Assessment timeperiods

Day (07001800)

Evening (18002200)

Night (22000700)

(See Section 3.3for exceptions)

Times when maximum impacts occur

Base measure LA90,15 minute LA90,15 minute

Analysis method Determine the assessment backgroundlevel for each day, evening and night byusing the tenth percentile method.

The rating background level is themedian assessment background levelover all days for each period.

The rating background level is themeasured L

A90,15 minutevalue, or, where a

number of measurements have beenmade, the lowest L

A90, 15 minutevalue.

Note:

1. Refers to the wind speed at the microphone height.

8/9/2019 ind_noise

27/62


24

Special care needs to be taken w hen d oing short-

term measurements to ensure that the measurements

reflect the time of maximum impact. For examp le, in

a residential neighbourhood, short-term noise

measurem ents should n ot be taken when there are

other n oisy activities going on (for examp le, lawn -mow ing, idling vehicles, neighbou rhood chatter).

When in d oubt as to w hether an activity is typical of

the area, it is best to exclud e data affected by noise

from that activity.

Noise-sensitive location(s)residential prem ises,

schools, hosp itals, places of wor ship, pa rks and

wilderness areas.

Most affected location(s)locations that are m ost

affected (or that will be most affected) by noise from

the source und er consideration as per N ote 2 in

Section 2.2.1. In d etermining these locations, the

following need to be considered : existing back-

groun d levels, noise source location/ s, distance

from source/ s (or p roposed source/ s) to receiver,

and any shielding (for examp le, building, barrier)

between source and receiver. Often several locations

will be affected by noise from the d evelopment. In

these cases, locations that can be considered rep re-

sentative of the various affected areas should be

monitored.

Time of maximum impactthe time d uring w hich

the d ifference between the background noise level

and the sour ce noise is expected to be the greatest.

Assessment background level (ABL)the single-

figure backgroun d level representing each assess-

ment periodday, evening an d night (that is, three

assessment background levels are determ ined for

each 24-hou r period of the monitoring period).

Determina tion of the assessment backgrou nd level

is by the tenth percentile method described in

Appendix B. Only those days and assessment

periods that are applicable to the times of opera-

tion of the proposed development are required to

be assessed.

Rating background level (RBL)the overa ll single-

figure backgroun d level representing each assess-

ment period (day/ evening/ night) over the whole

monitoring p eriod (as opposed to over each 24-hour

period used for the assessment background level).

The rating backgrou nd level is the level used for

assessment pu rposes. Where the rating backgroundlevel is foun d to be less than 30 dB(A), then it is set

to 30 dB(A).

For the short-term m ethod the rating background

level is simp ly the measur ed LA90,15 minut e

level. For

the long-term method, the rating background level is

defined as the med ian value of:

all the d ay assessment background levelsover the monitoring p eriod for the d ay

all the evening assessment backgrou nd

levels over the monitoring period for the

evening, or

all the n ight assessment background levels

over the monitoring period for the night.

Median is the middle value in a num ber of values.

For an odd num ber of values, the value of the

med ian is simply the midd le value in a num ber of

values ranked in ascending or d escending ord er.For an even nu mber of values, the median is the

arithm etic average of the two midd le values.

3.1.3 Transportation noise in backgroundnoise measurements

Transpor tation noise (air, road and rail) may be

included in background noise measurem ents,

except w hen th ere is a reasonable expectation th at

flows are not rep resentative of norm al cond itions

(for exam ple, traffic du ring school holidays). Air,

road and rail traffic during these times are usually

considered to be extraneous.

Where the period of measu remen t is limited (that is,

short-term measurement), care is needed to ensure

that the time at which the measurem ents are mad e

reflects the p eriod w hen th e highest noise imp acts

are likely to occur. For example, wh ere there is only

intermittent tra ffic, the short-term n oise measure-

ment shou ld not includ e transportation noise,

otherwise incorrect h igh read ings will result.

How ever, where th e traffic is constant and continu-ous, transportation may be included in the short-

term m easurement to ensure that the noise environ-

ment is adequately represented.

3.2 Determining existing noise levelsfor amenity criteria

Existing noise levels need to be d etermined for the

periods dur ing which the proposed development

will operate.

In d etermining the existing LAeq

noise level, it is

importan t to obtain a representative level. Hence,

8/9/2019 ind_noise

28/62


25

assessing the existing LAeq noise level is as definedin Table 3.2 for assessing different noise risk devel-

opments.

3.2.1 Excluding transportation noise

The existing n oise levels described in Table 2.2 are

for industr ial noise sources only. Where pr acticable,

noise from tran sportat ion or comm un ity activities

can be exclud ed, as the measured indu stry noise

level will be used (Table 2.2) to determine the amen-

ity level. Practical ways of exclud ing tran spor tation

and comm un ity noise will depend on the situation.

The policy d oes not require transportation and

comm unity noise to be exclud ed w hen d etermining

existing noise levels, but it may be advantageous to

the proponent to minimise the effects of comm un ity

and transportation n oise. Possible techniqu es to do

this includ e:

1. Measuring the level of transportation noise at

a nearby location not affected by noise from

indu stry, and logarithmically su btracting this

measur ement from the combined level at the

site. This may be d one by setting u p tw o

loggers (or two sound-level meters in the case

of short-term m easurements) to monitor

simultaneously the combined no ise levels at

the site and the transp ortation noise levels at

the nearby location.

2. Measuring at another location where indus-

trial source noise levels are equ ivalent, but

transportation n oise is mu ch lower.

3. Modelling the level of transportation noise

and subtracting the result from the m easuredcombined levels.

Table 3.2. Determining the existing LAeq

noise levels

4. (Where it can be demonstra ted that allexisting noise is du e to tran sportation-related

sources) Assuming that th e level of ind ustrial

noise is 10 dB below the existing combined

noise levels.

When m easuring existing ind ustrial noise, take

special care when d etermining w hat constitutes an

industr ial noise source. For examp le, any m obile/

transportation sources that form p art of the normal

operations on an indu strial noise source site are

considered to be part of the ind ustrial noise source

and shou ld be includ ed wh en measuring existing

noise levels from th at indu strial source.

Where dom inant road traffic is over 300 m aw ay

from the site and is heard as a very distant hu m, the

level of traffic noise is likely to be low enou gh that

special techn iques to m inimise its effects are no t

warr anted. Exceptions to this include cases where a

major road is in direct line-of-sight of the a ssess-

men t position, causing traffic on it to be the domi-

nan t source of noise at the site.

3.3 Dealing with shoulder periods

There will be situation s that call for different assess-

ment p eriods. For example, where early morning

(5am to 7 am) opera tions are prop osed, it may be

und uly stringent to expect such operations to be

assessed against th e night-time criteriaespecially

if existing backgroun d n oise levels are steadily

rising in th ese early m orning h ours. In these situa-

tions, appropr iate noise level targets may be negoti-

ated with the regulatory/ consent authority on a

case-by-case basis. As a ru le of thu mb it m ay be

app ropriate to assign a shoulder period r ating

Risk of noise impact Measurement period1

Definition of existing level

Low risk One daycovering the definedday/evening/night periods relevant to theperiods the proposed development wouldoperate.

High risk One weekcovering the definedday/evening/night periods the proposeddevelopment would operate.

The logarithmic average2

ofindividual L

Aeq,15 minutelevels for each

day/evening/night assessmentperiod over the measurementperiod.

Notes:

1. It is recommended that the LAeq be measured on a 15-minute basis.

2. Logarithmic average = 10log10((i=1 to n10(LAeq,15 min,i/10))/n), where n = number of LAeq,15 min values in each

assessment period over the measurement period.

8/9/2019 ind_noise

29/62


26

background level as the mid-point value between

the rating backgroun d levels of the two assessment

periods that are on either side of the shoulder

period.

The objective is to achieve environm ental amenity ina feasible and reasonable mann er. In an assessment

of the likely level of noise imp act, the time of day is

only one of several relevant factorssuch as n oise

level and character, and the activities affected by the

noise. Noise of a lower level, and with no intru sive

characteristics such as tones and im pu lses, can

often be more acceptable over a longer p eriod of the

day than noise at a high level and/ or with intrusive

characteristics.

3.4 Meteorological conditions formonitoring

Wind and rain condi tions

Noise monitoring should not be condu cted (or the

data shou ld be exclud ed) when average wind

speeds (over 15-minu te periods or shorter) at micro-

phone height are greater than 5m/ s, or when

rainfall occur s. Exceptions to this ru le are allowed ,

provid ed the prop onent is able to show that the

wind -ind uced noise on the microph one, and soun d

levels due to rain, are at least 10 dB below the noise

levels (that is, background and / or ambient)

ind_noise

Documents