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Editor:
Presscouncil City of Chemnitz
Pressrelease: 841

Update of the noise action plan of the city of Chemnitz

Public participation in the draft for the urban area of Chemnitz

The City of Chemnitz has updated the Noise Action Plan - Stage 4 for the city area and prepared a draft (in accordance with Section 47d BImSchG). Among other things, the plan sets out concepts for measures to combat noise pollution from the various types of noise sources analysed (such as road and rail traffic).

This draft of the updated Noise Action Plan - Stage 4 is now on public display so that all interested citizens, organisations and institutions can once again view it and submit their comments (in accordance with Section 47d (3) BImSchG).

The documents can be downloaded from the following link:

Noise Action Plan for the City of Chemnitz - Update 2024

The documents will also be available for public inspection from 9 December 2024 up to and including 17 January 2025 at the Technical City Hall, Friedensplatz 1, 09111 Chemnitz, in exhibition room 014 (next to the city shop window) at the following times

  • Mondays to Wednesdays from 8.30 a.m. to 3 p.m,
  • Thursdays from 8.30 a.m. to 6 p.m,
  • Fridays from 8.30 a.m. to 12 noon

(Except on 27 and 30 December and public holidays.)

Suggestions, proposals or objections to the draft noise action plan for the city of Chemnitz can be sent by post to the following address by 31 January 2025: City of Chemnitz, Environmental Agency, 09106 Chemnitz or by email to: umweltamt(at)stadt-chemnitz.de.

The comments will be incorporated into the update of the noise action plan for the city of Chemnitz. The final plan will be finalised after evaluation and consideration of all objections and suggestions received by the deadline and submitted to the City Council for a decision.

Note: When submitting comments, it is advisable to provide the author's address in case of any queries. However, the comments are submitted anonymously. By submitting your comments, you consent to the collection, processing and use of personal data for the purpose of the participation procedure.

Further information on the processing of personal data can be found under the link: Announcements on environmental law procedures.

Noise is one of the most pressing local environmental problems. People's exposure to traffic noise is increasingly perceived as a serious reduction in quality of life, as a disturbing impairment of communication and concentration as well as of recreation and rest at night. The aim is to reduce the population's exposure to environmental noise and to protect quiet areas from an increase in noise. The noise action plan is based on noise mapping.

What has been mapped so far?

In the first stage, noise mapping of all main roads with more than six million vehicles per year was carried out for the city of Chemnitz in 2007 and a noise action plan was drawn up on this basis.
The second stage of noise mapping provided for the mapping of main roads with more than three million vehicles per year with the additional aspect of categorising parts of the city of Chemnitz as a conurbation. As a result, roads with more than 3,000 vehicles per day were taken into account in the defined conurbation and rail traffic (trams) was also mapped throughout the city.
In the third stage of mapping, the results of stage 2 were reviewed and the study area was expanded to include additional municipal and district roads with a traffic volume of more than 3,000 vehicles per day.
In the 4th stage of noise mapping, the procedure for roads and railway lines was analogous to the 3rd stage. However, the calculation for stage 4 was carried out according to the CNOSSOS-EU (Common Noise Assessment Methods for Europe) calculation method, which is now standardised for all EU countries. Stage 4 noise mapping for Chemnitz was carried out in 2022.

The results of the noise mapping (including the public participation carried out at the end of 2022) were included in the now published update of the Noise Action Plan - Stage 4 for the city of Chemnitz.


Responsibilities

The City of Chemnitz is responsible for the noise mapping of road and rail traffic noise (trams). The Federal Railway Authority is responsible for noise mapping on railway lines.
Noise action planning and the updating of the noise action plan confirmed by the city council with specific measures to reduce noise pollution is in turn the responsibility of the City of Chemnitz.


Explanation

The "Directive 2002/49/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council relating to the assessment and management of environmental noise" established a standardised Europe-wide concept to preferably prevent, avoid or reduce the harmful effects of environmental noise. The EC Directive was transposed into national law with the Act on the Implementation of the EC Directive on the Assessment and Management of Environmental Noise and the associated amendment to Sections 47 a-f of the Federal Immission Control Act and the Ordinance on Noise Mapping (34th BImSchV).