November 2004 (PDF 11.6 MB) - Barrick Gold Corporation

2. The existing traffic noise level (determinedusing the procedure outlined in Section 3.2) is10 dB or more above the Acceptable noiselevel for the area.3. It is highly unlikely the road traffic noiselevels would decrease in the future.In all other cases the existing noise level of industrialsources may be determined by one of themethods outlined in Section 3.2.1 for comparisonwith Table 2.2 in the determination of the amenitycriterion.This method needs to be used with care for differentassessment periods. For example, although thiscriterion may be valid in high-traffic areas for the‘day’ assessment period, it may not be appropriatefor the ‘evening’ or ‘night’ assessment periodsbecause the requirement in (2) above has not beenmet. Where this is the case, one of the methodsoutlined in Section 3.2.1 may be used for the eveningand night periods.2.2.4 Assessment in developing areasThe recommended acceptable noise level from Tables2.1 and 2.2 represents the ideal total level of noisefrom industry that should be met by a proposeddevelopment and any future, potentially noiseproducing,developments in the area. In mostinstances where a number of industrial developmentsare proposed for an area, the amenity criteria,which set a cap for the cumulative noise fromindustry, will be more stringent than the intrusivecriteria. Thus project-specific noise levels for individualdevelopments will be derived from theamenity criteria.Where several developments are proposed for anarea, these are to be assessed as a group. Thisholistic approach allows project-specific noiselevels to be set for a proposed industrial development,so that the total impact from all proposed andpotential industrial developments does not causeamenity to deteriorate. In addition, this approachprovides an equitable distribution in the burden ofmeeting the noise criteria.The effectiveness of this approach depends on itbeing known at the time of assessment what developmentswill be moving into the locality, and whenthe various developments are proposed to commence.Generally, the approach should apply whenknowledge of future developments has advanced tothe point of a development application beingknown to the regulatory/consent authority, orwhere details of the proposal have been published.Implementation of this ‘holistic’ approach involvesthe following steps in relation to impacts at the mostsensitive receivers:1. Determining the number of developmentproposals to be assessed.2. Determining the amenity level according toTables 2.1 and 2.2.3. Determining the project-specific noise levelsto be achieved by each development at thereceiver, so that, when each is added logarithmically,the resultant total level of noisereceived from industry at any affected receiverwill meet the amenity level identified atStep 2.As the assessment is performed at the receiver, thelevel of noise received from each developmentdepends on its distance from the receiver—withmore remote developments able to emit higher noiselevels at the source.This type of approach has been applied by someforward-thinking local councils to provide an earlyindication to potential developers of expected noiseemissionrequirements, and to guarantee the noiseamenity in adjacent areas. (Examples of where thisapproach has been used include Ingleburn industrialestate, Campbelltown; Glendenning industrialestate, Blacktown and Breamer industrial estate,Mittagong.)2.2.5 Effects of changing land useLand uses can change—sometimes dramatically—with an increase in industrial activities, constructionof new freeways, or the development of newresidential suburbs. A consequence of this is thatthe land-use designation of an area may change.Changes in designation occur as a result of urbantyperesidential subdivisions in a village or ruralarea with few residences, or the encroachment ofindustrial developments near residential areas andvice versa.In such cases, the primary decision by planningauthorities to cause or allow the developmentwould take account of the many consequent implications.As developments introduce increasedNSW industrial noise policy20