November 2004 (PDF 11.6 MB) - Barrick Gold Corporation

ures. In this context feasibility relates to engineeringconsiderations and what can practically be built,and reasonableness relates to the application ofjudgement in arriving at a decision, taking intoaccount the following factors:• noise mitigation benefits—amount of noisereduction provided, number of peopleprotected• cost of mitigation—cost of mitigation versusbenefit provided• community views—aesthetic impacts andcommunity wishes• noise levels for affected land uses—existingand future levels, and changes in noise levels.A range of mitigation measures is described inSection 7.1.4.6 Negotiating noise impactsIf, after all feasible and reasonable mitigationmeasures are applied, the resultant noise emissionsexceed the project-specific noise levels, then theresidual level of impact needs to be balancedagainst any social and economic benefits derivedfrom the source of the noise. Negotiation betweenthe regulatory/consent authority, the communityand the proponent to establish achievable noiselimits is described in Section 8. This negotiationprocess is in addition to the direct consultation thatnormally occurs throughout the impact assessmentprocess between the proponent and the community.1.4.7 Setting noise limits in consent andlicence conditionsIn setting noise limits, the regulatory/consentauthorities need to consider the technical practicalitiesof mitigation, the amount of noise reductionprovided, community views, benefits arising fromthe development and cost of achieving the projectspecificnoise levels recommended here, along withthe environmental consequences of exceeding theproject-specific noise levels. It is important that theproject-specific noise levels are not automaticallyinterpreted as conditions for consent, withoutconsideration of the other factors. In many instances,it may be appropriate to set noise limits fora development above the project-specific noise levelsrecommended in this document (Section 9).1.4.8 Land acquisitionLicences issued by the EPA do not contain conditionsrelated to land acquisition.The noise criteria contained in this document havenot been derived for the purpose of land acquisition.As previously stated they are designed to protectagainst intrusiveness and to preserve amenity, anddrive a process of applying all feasible and economicallyreasonable avoidance and mitigationmeasures. To meet these purposes the noise criteriahave been based around identifying the upper(rather than the average) level of impact. They seekto restrict the risk of people being highly annoyed toless than 10 per cent, and to meet this for at least 90per cent of the time.Resolving noise problems through land acquisitionis viewed as an option of last resort. Where landacquisition is applied, this is done via the developmentconsent process, which is administered by therelevant planning authority. The developmentconsent may contain conditions related to landacquisition.The determination of when projected noise levelsare so high and intractable that circumstanceswarrant land acquisition will depend on a range offactors. Noise is only one of those. In some instances,disadvantages in one area may be tradedagainst benefits in another area. The weighing-up ofall of the relevant factors is the role of the planningsystem.It is important to reiterate there is no single identifiablenoise level that all people will find acceptableor unacceptable. Annoyance increases with increasingnoise, but at any given noise level there will be awide variation in the range of individual reactionsto noise. In extreme cases health can be affected, butgenerally it appears that annoyance can occur wellbefore there is a question of health impact.The various assessed levels of impact around anindustrial noise source could be described as a zoneof affectation, characterised by annoyance. Withinthis zone could lie a much smaller zone closer in tothe source where impacts were greater and justifiedacquisition of residences. The border between theannoyance and acquisition zones would be representedby a noise level well above both the backgroundlevel and the EPA’s criteria. If the noise fromNSW industrial noise policy6