The Environmental Noise Regulations 2006 (S.I No. 140 of 2006) transpose EU Directive 2002/49/EC relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise, more commonly known as END. Thi

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The Environmental Noise Regulations 2006 (S.I No. 140 of 2006) transpose EU Directive 2002/49/EC relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise, more commonly known as END. This Directive aims to provide a common framework to avoid, prevent or reduce, on a prioritised basis, the harmful effects of exposure to environmental noise. It sets out a two-stage process for addressing environmental noise by requiring Member States to: • Establish the extent of the noise problem by preparing ‘strategic noise maps’ for major roads, railways, airports and agglomerations. • Based on the results of these maps, the competent authorities in each Member State will be required to develop action plans to reduce the level of noise where necessary and to maintain environmental noise quality where it is good. This two-stage process was implemented over two separate 5 year cycles. The first noise mapping process (2004-2008) addressed noise arising from sources over a specified major threshold as follows: