#44: Noise levies

60 Reasons to Protest: Reason #44 – Noise levies

One of our 8 key demands has been to declare Brisbane Airport a leviable airport under the existing (!) Aircraft Noise Levy Act 1995 to impose and collect aircraft noise levies. These levies are to be distributed as compensation to all Brisbane residents in the vicinity of any of Brisbane Airport’s flight paths and within the noise contours associated with compromised health and educational outcomes.

Stephen Bates MP for Brisbane also suggested noise levies as one of his #sundaysolutions on 13 Feb 2022. Keep in mind that this does not solve the problem but forms part of a number of measures we demand as a package.

How did Sydney communities get compensation?

Here is a short summary from Assoc. Prof. Marion Burgess (UNSW) in her article, “Sydney’s second airport: local noise concerns must be heard:”

After the new [Sydney] runway opened, there was a massive and sustained angry reaction from the Sydney community. Residents believed that the runway’s Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) had been used to deliberately mislead them about what the noise would be like once the new runway opened.

The extreme public pressure resulted in a 1995 Senate Select Committee inquiry on aircraft noise in Sydney. The Committee largely accepted the thrust of the community’s objections and produced a damning report, Falling on Deaf Ears.

The Committee identified that the EIS process had a key failing: it had limited its noise assessment to residents living within the forecast aircraft noise contours. These contours indicate the amount of aircraft noise likely to be heard on the ground during an average day. In the EIS for the third runway, the area within the forecast aircraft noise contours was termed the “noise affected area”.

Not unreasonably, residents assumed that the areas outside “the noise affected area” would not be exposed to aircraft noise. So they were extremely surprised and angry once the runway opened to find themselves being overflown many times an hour throughout the day.

About 90% of the formal noise complaints lodged with aviation authorities after the runway opened came from people living outside “the noise affected area”.

Much of the public anger also arose because the way the aircraft noise impact was assessed was based on an “average day” – which had hidden what the noise would be like during peak periods or on busy days.

Sounds familiar?

The public protests in the mid 90s in Sydney led to a number of immediate measures: a ministerial directive, a curfew, a flight cap, demand management, a Long Term Operating Plan, AND: the collection of noise levies to compensate communities.

The following is a summary of how the Australian Government has run noise amelioration programs at Sydney and Adelaide Airports. This information formed part of a presentation by the federal Department of Transport’s Aviation Branch to BAPAF, which BFPCA obtained through an FOI request (BAPAF FOI 22-161, document 17, pp. 126 – 128).

The Programs were in effect at different time periods but largely followed the same criteria. The Programs were funded by an aircraft noise levy under the Aircraft Noise Levy Act 1995 and the Aircraft Noise Levy Collection Act1995. The levies were imposed on operators of jet aircraft using the airport. The airports did not financially contribute to the Program.

Australian airports use Australian Noise Exposure Forecasts (ANEF) to map areas of higher noise impacts around the airport based on forecast aircraft movements on an average day. The higher the ANEF, the greater the noise impact.

ANEFs are not directly comparable to N-contours, which measure the average number of noise events above a certain decibel level per day. The Australian Standard AS2021 (current version 2015) Acoustics – Aircraft noise intrusion – Building siting and construction sets out design targets for residential dwellings outside the ANEF 30 contour as 50 db(A) in bedrooms and 60 db(A) in other living areas of the dwelling. However, the design standards apply to new dwellings and it is more difficult to achieve better noise outcomes when retro-fitting residences with noise insulation measures. Construction of new residential dwellings are ‘unacceptable’ under the AS2021 above the ANEF 25 contour.

Sydney (Kingsford-Smith) Airport Noise Amelioration Program

The Sydney Airport Noise Amelioration Program was introduced in November 1994. The program committed to voluntarily acquire all residences, churches and child care centres in the ANEF 40 contour zone by the end of 1996. Residential properties in the-then ANEI 30 contour and public buildings such as schools, churches, day care centres and hospitals in the ANEI 25 contour were eligible for financial and technical assistance under the program.

The Program was completed in the early 2000s and the airport levy ceased on 1 July 2006, once it had recovered all expenditure incurred in the program ($421.1 million). Overall, the Program insulated 4083 residential dwellings and 99 public buildings, including 27 schools, 29 child care facilities, 7 nursing homes/hostels and 36 churches. 147 residential dwellings and one church were voluntarily acquired. For residential dwellings, there was no noise reduction target for insulation projects set (seemingly due to the wide variance in achievability in existing dwellings).

Adelaide Airport Noise Amelioration Program

The Adelaide Airport Noise Insulation Program was introduced in May 2000. Residential properties in the ANEF 30 contour and public buildings such as schools, churches, day care centres and hospitals in the ANEF 25 contour were eligible for assistance under the program.

The Program was completed in 2011 and the airport levy ceased on 31 March 2010, once it had recovered all expenditure incurred in the program ($52.2 million funded through levies, with insulation for one additional church funded through the 2015-16 Budget for $2.5 million). Overall, the Program insulated 648 residential dwellings and 9 public buildings.

Western Sydney Airport

In May 2018 Western Sydney Airport Corporation announced that $75 million has been allocated for noise amelioration for Western Sydney Airport, funded through a $445 million environmental offset fund. In addition, new residential developments will not be permitted where the ANEF exceeds 20, a more stringent requirement than at Kingsford Smith Airport where development is restricted above ANEF25.

What about Brisbane?

Nothing.