Action programmes for environmental noise
Guidance and information concerning action programmes for environmental noise: contents, schedule and reporting.
The aim of an action programme is to coordinate and establish cost-effective and appropriate measures to ensure compliance with environmental quality standards. Action programmes can encompass various measures and instruments which municipal authorities and government agencies need to implement.
Target group
Municipalities with over 100,000 inhabitants and the Swedish Transport Administration.
Who must establish an action programme?
Larger municipalities with over 100,000 inhabitants and the Swedish Transport Administration have a responsibility to conduct noise mapping and prepare action programmes. The regulations governing this are laid down in ordinance (2004:675) on environmental noise and in the Environmental Code.
The surveys and action programmes cover:
- noise from roads, railways, airports, larger ports and certain designated industrial sectors and in the larger municipalities
- noise associated with major roads, railways and airports throughout Sweden.
When will the next action programme be prepared?
The most recent noise assessments show the situation as of 2016, and action programmes were established during 2018.
The next assessment will cover the situation as of 2021 and was delivered in 2022. Two years after the mapping, in 2024, should new action plans be in place.
Contents of an action programme
The mandatory scope of an action programme is governed by Ordinance (2004:675) and Chapter 5 of the Environmental Code.
The ordinance on environmental noise states that the following information must be included
- information indicating that the action programme has been established in accordance with the Ordinance and the government agency or municipal authority that prepared the action programme
- description of the noise sources that the government agency or municipal authority will map
- summary of the noise mapping including an estimate of the number of people who are exposed to noise according to the assessment
- description of situations that need to be improved and problems that are considered to be prioritised, and the criteria used to select them
- summary of consultations that have taken place under Chapter 5 Section 4 of the Environmental Code
- description of the noise mitigation measures that have been implemented or are planned, including measures which are planned for implementation over the next five years
- description of measures to protect areas where noise levels are considered to constitute a special quality, e.g. parks and general recreation areas, outdoor recreation areas and other natural and cultural environments
- a long-term strategy for managing noise and the effects of noise, where there is a need also to reduce noise levels
- description of how the action programme’s implementation and results are to be evaluated
- analysis of the costs relative to the effectiveness and benefits of the action programme, as well as a
- summary of the action programme.
According to Chapter 5 of the Environmental Code, an action programme must also include
- measures which specified government agencies and municipal authorities shall implement
- information on when the measures must be implemented
- information concerning how requirements for improvements will be allocated between different sources and different measures
- information on how the measures will be funded
- analysis of the consequences of the programme from a general and individual perspective
- any environmental assessment under Chapter 6 of the Environmental Code (a needs assessment must be carried out; see Ordinance 1998:905).
Reporting
Adopted action programmes are reported to the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and are available together with the associated maps on the websites of the relevant municipal authority and the Swedish Transport Administration.
The Environmental Protection Agency collates the maps and action programmes, and reports to the European Commission.
Summary of the municipal authorities’ action programmes
We have summarised the municipal authorities’ noise mapping and action programmes which were completed in 2013 and 2014. The noise mapping cover a total population of three million people.
The summary of the action programmes shows that the amount of funding allocated to limiting noise disturbance varies considerably depending on the source of the noise, and that the majority of noise-limiting measures (around 75%) planned over the next five years are general measures (e.g. studies and information), whilst approximately 20% are specific measures (e.g. façade measures and speed restrictions).
In half of the municipalities, specific noise measures costing around SEK 20 per inhabitant and year are planned over the next five years. In these municipalities, the specific noise measures will result in marked improvements to the noise environment of around one in every hundred people.
Action programmes for following the environmental quality code for noise’ – in Swedish