Annex 7

(Art. 40 para. 1)

Exposure Limit Values for Noise from Civil Firing Range Installations

1 Scope

¹The exposure limit values specified in Number 2 apply to the noise from civil firing range installations at which only hand guns or small arms are used to fire at stationary or moving targets.

²The hand guns or small arms used at the firing range installations are allocated to the following weapons categories: assault rifles and portable firearms of comparable calibre; small arms with centre fire cartridges, in particular ordnance pistols; small arms with rim fire cartridges; portable firearms with rim fire cartridges; sporting guns with ball cartridges; shotguns; other firearms.

³Firing range installations are public if they are used for shooting practice in accordance with Articles 62 and 63 of the Armed Forces Act of 3 February 1995¹.

2 Exposure Limit Values

For noise from public installations according to Number 1 paragraph 3², at which, for weapons in categories a or b, the level correction Ki < –15, no alarm values apply. For such installations, no soundproofing measures under Article 15 are required. The level correction Ki is calculated as specified in Number 321.

3 Determination of rating sound level

31 Principles

¹The rating sound level Lr for the noise from firing range installations is the energetic sum of the partial rating sound level Lri for the weapons categories:

²The partial rating sound level Lri is the sum of the average single shot sound level Li of a weapons category and the level correction Ki:

Lri = Li + Ki

³The average single shot sound level Li is the energetic average weighted according to the number of shots of the energetically averaged single shot sound level Lj of a type of weapon or type of ammunition:

⁴The energetically averaged single shot sound level Lj must be determined using the measurements of the A-weighted maximum sound level with the FAST time constants.

Where: Mj is the number of shots fired annually using a single type of weapon or a single type of ammunition of a weapons category, averaged over three years; Mi is the number of shots fired annually using weapons of a single category, averaged over three years.

32 Level Correction

321 Calculation

¹The level correction Ki is calculated as follows:

Ki = 10 x log (Dwi + 3 x Dsi) + 3 x log Mi – 44

Where: Dwi is the number of annual firing half-days falling on a weekday, averaged over three years, for each weapons category; Dsi is the number of annual firing half-days falling on a Sunday or a general public holiday, averaged over three years, for each weapons category.

²When determining the number of firing half-days and the number of shots, all exercises that take place regularly over a period of three years must be taken into account.

322 Determination of the number of firing half-days

¹Any firing exercise taking place in the morning or in the afternoon and lasting more than two hours counts as a firing half-day. Exercises lasting two hours or less count as half a firing half-day.

²For new or modified firing range installations, the number of firing half-days is determined on the basis of operational forecasts. For existing firing range installations, the number of firing half-days is determined by counting.

323 Determination of the number of shots

¹For existing firing range installations, the number of shots Mi per weapons category is determined from the operational logs.

²If the operational logs of existing firing range installations are incomplete or if the firing range installations are new or have been modified, the number of shots M is determined from forecasts of future use.

Footnotes

1. SR 510.10 ↩

2. The reference was amended on 1 Aug. 2010 pursuant to Art. 12 para. 2 of the Publications Act of 18 June 2004 (SR 170.512 ). ↩