Regulatory Authorities
Achieving better noise management outcomes

Regulatory authorities have a remit to ensure that noise pollution from heavy industry such as mines, quarries and industrial plants, is kept within Licence Conditions and does not adversely impact local residents.

The challenge for many regulatory authorities is that traditional attended noise monitoring does not provide accurate results when multiple noise sources are present (e.g. nearby roads or other industrial sites).

Traditional noise measurement techniques have limitations
The use of traditional noise monitoring methods to resolve noise complaints, monitor compliance within noise limits and undertake real time noise control have been prone to inaccuracy and can be very time consuming at anti-social hours.
	Unattended monitoring is inaccurate – No certainty what is causing the noise.
	Attended monitoring is time consuming – Noise direction can be identified but how long to measure. How often do we hear ‘You should have been here yesterday!’
	Short-term attended measurements are unpredictable – Can often get different results from changes in weather and operational activity on a day-to-day basis.
	Analysis from attended measurements is subjective – Estimating noise contributions from an industry source within the total noise is a subjective process.

Implications for Regulatory Authorities
	Current noise monitoring methods are time consuming and produce uncertain results;
	Protracted assessment processes and negotiations with industry; and
	It is difficult to enforce small tolerances and/or prosecute based on uncertainty.

Benefits of BarnOwl®
BarnOwl® provides regulatory authorities with a means to produce accurate noise measurements and measure the noise contribution of a single source in the presence of other noise sources.
	Quicker resolution of noise issues
	- More accurate measurements due to true directional monitoring - Better consideration of variable conditions (weather and operations) - Longer measurement durations possible - Reduced resources, less attended monitoring - Shorter negotiation, less debate as measurements are no longer subjective
	Overall more accurate and fair negotiations with industry
	Better result for affected communities and therefore regulatory authorities

To find out more about the BarnOwl^® system and its capabilities click here