6.	Noise abatement plans / Noise action plans
6.1 Directive on Environmental Noise

When new roads or railway lines and also new building areas are planned or constructed, only the sound immissions from the new building project or the noise impacting on the building area are determined and assessed and, if necessary, reduced by noise abatement measures. Other existing sound sources remain unconsidered.

The introduction of noise abatement plans in 1990 (§ 47a of the Federal Immission Control Act) has created a legal instrument to determine noise pollution as a sum of different noise sources and to develop coordinated steps against. The EU Directive on Environmental Noise (2002/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council from 25 June 2002 relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise) finally attaches even greater importance to noise abatement planning. The guideline was transposed into national law through the "Act on the implementation of the EU Directive relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise" from 24 June 2005 (amendment to the Federal Immission Control Act by adding Part VI (§§ 47a to 47f Noise abatement planning)).

Environmental noise within the meaning of the guideline is defined as "unwanted or harmful outdoor sound, created by human activities, including noise emitted by means of transport, road traffic, rail traffic, air traffic and from sites of industrial activity". Noise from sports and leisure facilities is not mentioned in this act. It could make sense, however, to include these sources in the deliberations.

The Environmental Noise Directive, §§ 47a to 47f of the Federal Immission Control Act as well as the 34th Federal Immission Control Ordinance (Ordinance on Noise Mapping) from 6 March 2006 lay down the requirements and contents of noise maps and noise action plans.

Noise maps and noise action plans must be created for all major sources of noise and agglomerations. The term "agglomeration" and the various “major sources of noise” are defined in § 47b of the Federal Immission Control Act. Depending on the size of the major source of noise or of the agglomeration, different deadlines were set for the first drawing up. Noise maps and noise action plans must be reviewed and, if necessary, revised every five years (§ 47c para. 4 and § 47d para. 5 of the Federal Immission Control Act). The setting of deadlines makes the most important change compared to previous regulations. The following legal deadlines shall be applied:

Table 6/1: Deadlines for the first drawing up of noise maps and noise action plans

The following additional noise sources must also be considered in agglomerations – besides major roads, major railways and major airports – provided that they produce significant environmental noise (§ 4 of the 34th Federal Immission Control Ordinance):

• Other roads
• Other railways of trains
• Railways of trams and city trams
• Other airfields for civil air traffic
• Industrial and commercial territory on which one or more installations according to Annex I to the Council Directive 96/61/EC from 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control ("IPPC installations") are situated
• Ports with a cargo handling of more than 1.5 million tons per year

§ 47e of the Federal Immission Control Act determines the "municipalities or the authorities competent in accordance with Land law" as responsible for noise mapping and noise abatement planning. Noise maps for federal railways are generally developed by the Federal Railways Office (Eisenbahn-Bundesamt), which is also responsible for the drawing up of a nationwide noise action plan for major federal railways with measures of national sovereignty and participates in the drawing up of noise action plans for railways in the context of noise action plans for agglomerations as of 1 January 2015. In some Länder, state authorities or institutions resume certain noise mapping or noise abatement planning functions; in Baden-Württemberg for example, the State Institute for Environment, Measurements and Nature Conservation Baden-Württemberg (LUBW) carries out the noise mapping for major roads and not federally owned major railways outside agglomerations as well as the mapping of major airports. The noise action plan for Stuttgart’s airport is established by Stuttgart's Regional Administrative Authority.