GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATMENTS ON NOISE. REPORT OF WORKING GROUP 69 ON EVALUATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF NOISE

Guidelines are proposed for the uniform description and assessment of the various noise environments potentially requiring an Environmental Impact Statement for Noise. In addition to general, audible noise environments, the report covers separately high-energy impulse noise, special noises such as ultrasound and infrasound, and the environmental impact of structure-borne vibration. Whenever feasible and practical, a single-number noise impact characterization is recommended, based on the new concept of level-weighted population: i.e., the summation over the total population of the product of each residential person times a weighting factor that varies with the yearly day-night average sound level outside the residence of that person. A sound-level weighting function for general impact and environmental degradation analysis is proposed, based on the average annoyance response observed in community response studies; this weighting function is supplemented by an additional weighting function at higher noise environments to quantify the potential of noise-induced hearing loss and general height effects. The evaluation of the environmental impact of vibration is derived from existing or proposed ISO standards. The report explains and justifies the procedures selected and gives examples of their application.