Intent and Objectives: Update to Malta’s Noise Action Plan (NAP), Round 4

CONSULTATION BRIEF

Start date: 27 November 2024

Closing date: 18 December 2024

Title of the public consultation: Intent and Objectives: Update to Malta’s Noise Action Plan (NAP), Round 4

Ministry: Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Regeneration of the Grand Harbour (MEER)

Entity: Environment and Resources Authority (ERA)

 

  1. Background

In terms of Article 51 of the Environment Protection Act (Cap. 549), it is duly notified that the Environment and Resources Authority (ERA), in collaboration with the Ministry for the Environment, Energy and Regeneration of the Grand Harbour (MEER), is preparing an updated Noise Action Plan (NAP) under the Environmental Noise Directive 2002/49/EC (END).

The NAP is designed to address the management of environmental noise issues and effects from transport noise including road and air, together with industrial noise in the Maltese Islands. Noise as a nuisance and environmental noise pollution are different and are not interchangeable. It is continuous long term exposure to noise that exceeds a limit that harms the environment that is considered as pollution.

 

  1. Consultation

Intent and Objectives

It is planned that the NAP will:

    • Provide an overview of the requirements and obligations of the national regulations transposing the END, the Assessment and Management of Environment Noise Regulations (S.L. 549.37);
    • Present a summary of the results of the round 4 strategic noise maps within Malta for assessment year 2021;
    • Present actions, which ERA intends to take in the next five years.

The NAP has the following objectives:

    1. To present a long-term strategy focused on preventing and reducing environmental noise where needed, particularly in areas where exposure levels may pose risks to human health, while preserving good environmental noise quality where it currently exists.
    2. To set out objectives for the monitoring and management of environmental noise in Malta.
    3. To take a staged approach in assessing the existing levels of environmental noise from the different noise sources to identify potential locations for actions using a prioritisation exercise.
    4. To preserve relatively quiet areas in the agglomeration and in open countryside through the identification and delineation of such areas. Additionally, to determine appropriate management methods to maintain the area’s existing noise climate.
    5. To assess the harmful effects of noise on population by means of the dose-effect relations for Ischaemic Heart Disease (IHD), Highly Annoyed (HA) and Highly Sleep Disturbed (HSD) and present corresponding health impact assessments of environmental noise exposure.
    6. To present the outcomes of the Cost-Benefit Analysis which will determine the feasibility of the proposed actions in the Round 3 NAP from a socio-economic perspective using a cost-benefit approach.

The public is invited to submit any feedback or comments on the intent and objectives of this plan.

 

  1. Submission of feedback

Comments are being invited through the feedback form at publicconsultation.gov.mt or otherwise by email through [email protected].

 

  1. Further notes

Please be informed that comments submitted, together with the identity of the contributor, may be published online at the conclusion of the public consultation, unless the contributor requests that their personal data not be disclosed. In such cases, the contribution may be published anonymously.

All comments submitted shall be duly considered.

The draft Noise Action Plan will be available for public consultation in due course at the following web link: https://era.org.mt/consultation-on-legislation-and-policy/.