THE U.S. ARMY ENVIRONMENTAL NOISE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

摘要

The Army is increasingly faced with the challenge of protecting its training capabilities. Publicperception has changed over the years. The Cold War is over and people have become lesstolerant of the noise generated by military installations. At the same time, many militaryweapons have gotten louder. Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) has resulted in someinstallations having expanded missions and therefore generating more noise. The Army’sEnvironmental Noise Management Program is meant to be a proactive measure to help ensurethat land use is compatible with the noise generated by training. There are two steps that need tobe taken in order for the program to be successful. The first step is scientific in nature. Noisemodels are used to quantify and delineate the installation’s noise environment. The source dataused to develop the models, and the operational data entered into the models, needs to be valid.The second is the community outreach. The public must be made aware of the noiseenvironment and of the installation’s mission. It is only by gaining public support for themilitary mission that land use agreements can be reached to protect the installation.