ICAO ANNEX 16 VOL I PDF

FOREWORD

Historical background

Standards and Recommended Practices for Aircraft Noise were first adopted by the Council on 2 April 1971 pursuant to the provisions of Article 37 of the Convention on International Civil Aviation (Chicago, 1944) and designated as Annex 16 to the Convention. The Annex was developed in the following manner:

The Sixteenth Session of the Assembly, Buenos Aires, September 1968, adopted the following Resolution:

A16-3: Aircraft Noise in the Vicinity of Airports

Whereas the problem of aircraft noise is so serious in the vicinity of many of the world’s airports that public reaction is mounting to a degree that gives cause for great concern and requires urgent solution;

Whereas the noise that concerns the public and civil aviation today is being caused by increase in traffic of existing aircraft;

Whereas the introduction of future aircraft types could increase and aggravate this noise unless action is taken to alleviate the situation;

Whereas the Fifth Air Navigation Conference of ICAO held in Montreal in November 1967 made certain recommendations, based on the principal conclusions of the International Conference on the Reduction of Noise and Disturbance Caused by Civil Aircraft (“The London Noise Conference”) held in London in November 1966, with the object of reaching international solutions to the problem through the machinery of ICAO; and

Whereas the Assembly has noted the action being taken by the Council, in consultation with States and the appropriate international organizations, to give effect to the recommendations of the Fifth Air Navigation Conference, as reported to the Assembly by the Secretary General;

THE ASSEMBLY RESOLVES to instruct the Council:

1) to call an international conference within the machinery of ICAO as soon as practicable, bearing in mind the need for adequate preparation, to consider the problem of aircraft noise in the vicinity of airports;

2) to establish international specifications and associated guidance material relating to aircraft noise;

3) to include, in appropriate existing Annexes and other relevant ICAO documents and possibly in a separate Annex on noise, such material as the description and methods of measurement of aircraft noise and suitable limitations on the noise caused by aircraft that is of concern to communities in the vicinity of airports; and

4) to publish such material on a progressive basis, commencing at the earliest possible time.

In response to Assembly Resolution A16-3, a Special Meeting on Aircraft Noise in the Vicinity of Aerodromes was convened in Montréal (November–December 1969) to examine the following aspects related to the problems of aircraft noise:

a) procedures for describing and measuring aircraft noise;

b) human tolerance to aircraft noise;

c) aircraft noise certification;

d) criteria for establishment of aircraft noise abatement operating procedures;

e) land-use control; and

f) ground run-up noise abatement procedures.

Based on the recommendations of the Special Meeting on Aircraft Noise in the Vicinity of Aerodromes, draft International Standards and Recommended Practices for Aircraft Noise were developed and, after amendment following the usual consultation with the Contracting States of the Organization, were adopted by the Council to form the text of this Annex.

With the development of Standards and Recommended Practices dealing with the control of aircraft engine emissions, it was felt that all provisions relating to environmental aspects of aviation should be included in a single document. Accordingly, as part of the Resolution adopting Amendment 5, it was agreed that Annex 16 should be retitled as “Environmental Protection” and Volume I of the Annex should contain the existing provisions (Third Edition) of Annex 16 — Aircraft Noise as amended by Amendment 5, and Volume II should contain the provisions related to aircraft engine emissions.

Several Assembly and Council sessions have addressed the issue of aircraft noise since the Special Meeting on Aircraft Noise in the Vicinity of Aerodromes, focusing on the various aspects related to the problems of aircraft noise identified at the Special Meeting. The Thirty-third Session of the Assembly, Montréal, 25 September to 5 October 2001, in Resolution A33-7, issued a Consolidated Statement of Continuing ICAO Policies and Practices Related to Environmental Protection to, in significant part, “incorporate new ICAO policies and guidance material regarding aircraft noise” and to reflect the concept of a “balanced approach” to noise management, which had developed over time.

As defined in Appendix C to Assembly Resolution A33-7, the balanced approach to noise management consists of identifying the noise problem at an airport and then analysing the various measures available to reduce noise through the exploration of four principal elements, namely reduction at source, land-use planning and management, noise abatement operational procedures and operating restrictions, with the goal of addressing the noise problem in the most cost-effective manner.

In addition to providing additional detail on the balanced approach concept, Assembly Resolution A33-7 urges States to adopt a balanced approach to noise management.

The principal elements of the balanced approach are addressed in various places in Annex 16, Volume I, and in guidance adopted by ICAO. Reduction of noise at source through aircraft noise certification is addressed in Annex 16, Volume I, Part II. References to the other elements of the balanced approach are contained in Part V.

Table A shows the origin of amendments to the Annex over time together with a list of the principal subjects involved and the dates on which the Annex and the amendments were adopted by the Council, when they became effective and when they became applicable.