CONSULTATION BRIEF
Start date: 18 June 2019
Closing date: 9 July 2019
Title of the public consultation: Intent and Objectives: Update to Malta’s Noise Action Plan
Ministry: Ministry for Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change
Entity: Environment & Resources Authority
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 Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change (MESDC), 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.
It is planned that the NAP will:
(i) 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);
(ii) Present a summary of the results of the round 3 strategic noise maps within Malta;
(iii) Present actions, which ERA intends to take in the next five years.
The NAP has the following objectives:
a. To outline a long-term plan aiming to prevent and reduce environmental noise where necessary and particularly where exposure levels can induce harmful effects on human health and preserving environmental noise quality where it is good.
b. To set out objectives for the monitoring and management of environmental noise in Malta.
c. 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.
d. To preserve relatively quiet areas in the agglomeration and in open countryside through the identification and delineation of such areas.
2. Consultation
The public is invited to submit any feedback or comments on the intent and objectives of this programme.
3. Submission of feedback
E-mail: [email protected]
4. Further notes:
Please be informed that comments submitted, together with the identity of the contributor, may be published online at the end of the public consultation, unless the contributor objects to the publication of his/her personal data. In this case, the contribution may be published in anonymous form.
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.
