Article 3
Definitions For the purposes of this Directive: (a) "environmental noise" shall mean 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 such as those defined in Annex I to Council Directive 96/61/EC of 24 September 1996 concerning integrated pollution prevention and control(12); (b) "harmful effects" shall mean negative effects on human health; (c) "annoyance" shall mean the degree of community noise annoyance as determined by means of field surveys; (d) "noise indicator" shall mean a physical scale for the description of environmental noise, which has a relationship with a harmful effect; (e) "assessment" shall mean any method used to calculate, predict, estimate or measure the value of a noise indicator or the related harmful effects; (f) "Lden" (day-evening-night noise indicator) shall mean the noise indicator for overall annoyance, as further defined in Annex I; (g) "Lday" (day-noise indicator) shall mean the noise indicator for annoyance during the day period, as further defined in Annex I; (h) "Levening" (evening-noise indicator) shall mean the noise indicator for annoyance during the evening period, as further defined in Annex I; (i) "Lnight" (night-time noise indicator) shall mean the noise indicator for sleep disturbance, as further defined in Annex I; (j) "dose-effect relation" shall mean the relationship between the value of a noise indicator and a harmful effect; (k) "agglomeration" shall mean part of a territory, delimited by the Member State, having a population in excess of 100000 persons and a population density such that the Member State considers it to be an urbanised area; (l) "quiet area in an agglomeration" shall mean an area, delimited by the competent authority, for instance which is not exposed to a value of Lden or of another appropriate noise indicator greater than a certain value set by the Member State, from any noise source; (m) "quiet area in open country" shall mean an area, delimited by the competent authority, that is undisturbed by noise from traffic, industry or recreational activities; (n) "major road" shall mean a regional, national or international road, designated by the Member State, which has more than three million vehicle passages a year; (o) "major railway" shall mean a railway, designated by the Member State, which has more than 30000 train passages per year; (p) "major airport" shall mean a civil airport, designated by the Member State, which has more than 50000 movements per year (a movement being a take-off or a landing), excluding those purely for training purposes on light aircraft; (q) "noise mapping" shall mean the presentation of data on an existing or predicted noise situation in terms of a noise indicator, indicating breaches of any relevant limit value in force, the number of people affected in a certain area, or the number of dwellings exposed to certain values of a noise indicator in a certain area; (r) "strategic noise map" shall mean a map designed for the global assessment of noise exposure in a given area due to different noise sources or for overall predictions for such an area; (s) "limit value" shall mean a value of Lden or Lnight, and where appropriate Lday and Levening, as determined by the Member State, the exceeding of which causes competent authorities to consider or enforce mitigation measures; limit values may be different for different types of noise (road-, rail-, air-traffic noise, industrial noise, etc.), different surroundings and different noise sensitiveness of the populations; they may also be different for existing situations and for new situations (where there is a change in the situation regarding the noise source or the use of the surrounding); (t) "action plans" shall mean plans designed to manage noise issues and effects, including noise reduction if necessary; (u) "acoustical planning" shall mean controlling future noise by planned measures, such as land-use planning, systems engineering for traffic, traffic planning, abatement by sound-insulation measures and noise control of sources; (v) "the public" shall mean one or more natural or legal persons and, in accordance with national legislation or practice, their associations, organisations or groups.