Volume 2: Draft Gorst Planned Action Environmental Impact Statement

GORST PLANNED ACTION EIS | AFFECTED ENVIRONMENT, SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS, AND MITIGATION MEASURES• Sounds that are exempt from the maximum permissible noise levels adopted by Kitsap County at all times,except where provisions relate to the reception of noise within Class A EDNAs between the hours of 10:00p.m. and 7:00 a.m. are the same as sounds exempted by the City of Bremerton.• Sounds that are exempt from the maximum permissible noise levels adopted by Kitsap County at all times aresimilar to sounds exempted by the City of Bremerton, but include: sounds from existing refrigerationequipment for preservation of retail food goods, sounds caused by natural phenomena and unamplifiedhuman voices, and sounds created by the discharge of legal fireworks only during specific days, times, andlocations where discharge is allowable pursuant to existing state and local law. Kitsap County exemptions donot include: sounds created by watercraft or sounds created by the discharge of firearms in the course ofhunting.All new development would be required to comply with current noise regulations in the KCC. If nighttimeconstruction is required, the developer will need to demonstrate compliance with the County's nighttime noiseordinance limits or apply for a variance.Federal and State Noise RegulationsThe FHWA has adopted criteria for evaluating noise impacts associated with federally funded highway projects,and for determining whether such impacts are sufficient to justify funding of noise abatement. These criteria arespecified in the Code of Federal Regulations (23 CFR 772), Procedures for Abatement of Highway Traffic Noise andConstruction Noise. WSDOT has adopted the FHWA Noise Abatement Criteria for evaluating noise impacts anddetermining whether such impacts are sufficient to justify funding of noise abatement for roadway improvementprojects with state funding.Traffic noise impacts occur when predicted Leq(h) noise levels approach or exceed the noise abatement criteriaestablished by the FHWA, or substantially exceed existing noise levels. WSDOT considers a noise impact to occur ifpredicted noise Leq(h) noise levels approach within one dBA of the noise abatement criteria. The FHWA noiseabatement criteria specify exterior Leq(h) noise levels for various land activity categories as described in Table 3.5-8 FHWA Noise Abatement Criteria by Land Use. WSDOT considers an increase of 10-dBA or more to be asubstantial increase and a traffic noise impact.ActivityCategoryAFHWA NoiseAbatement(dBA Leq)57 (exterior)Table 3.5-8FHWA Noise Abatement Criteria by Land UseDescription of Activity CategoryLands on which serenity and quiet are of extraordinary significance and serve an importantpublic need and where the preservation of those qualities is essential if the area is tocontinue to serve its intended purpose.B 67 (exterior) Residential (single and multi-family units)CDE67 (exterior)52 (interior)72 (exterior)Active sport areas, amphitheaters, auditoriums, campgrounds, cemeteries, day carecenters, hospitals, libraries, medical facilities, parks, picnic areas, places of worship,playgrounds, public meeting rooms, public or nonprofit institutional structures, radiostudios, recording studios, recreation areas, Section 4(f) sites, schools, television studios,trails, and trail crossingsAuditoriums, day care centers, hospitals, libraries, medical facilities, places of worship,public meeting rooms, public or nonprofit institutional structures, radio studios, recordingstudios, schools, and television studios.Hotels, motels, offices, restaurants/bars, and other developed lands, properties oractivities not included in A-D or F. Includes undeveloped land permitted for these activities.F - Agriculture, airports, bus yards, emergency services, industrial, logging, maintenanceDraft | June 2013 3-80