Noise Management in the NSW Coal Industry

Abstract

This paper describes the iterative evolution of noise assessment and management in the NSW coal industry during the last three decades. The volatile and dynamic nature of the global demand for coal has encouraged an increase in coal production resulting in a sustained mining boom since the mid 1980s. Parallel to this boom in coal mining is the growth of community dissatisfaction with noise exposures, and the increased efforts of the noise regulators to design and implement effective noise regulations for the industry (such as the NSW Industrial Noise Policy (EPA 2000)). This paper describes the key factors that have shaped the changes in environmental noise assessment and management of mining operations and how the coal industry has responded.