Soil materials (excavated soil, dredged materials)

Non-excavated soil

Preliminary Draft Decree of the Flemish government establishing a temporary operating framework for the use of soil materials containing PFAS and further specifying the remediation criterion referred to in Article 19(1) of the Soil Decree for soil containing PFAS

Based on the precautionary principle and the current scientific state of the art, the Flemish government intends this Decree to provide a temporary operating framework with specific test and target values for:

- the use of soil materials containing PFAS in the context of earthmoving;
- assessment of the remediation criterion ‘clear indication of serious soil contamination’ (Article 19(1) of the Soil Decree of 27 October 2006) in the context of soil surveys (initial and exploratory soil surveys) with identification of PFAS soil contamination. The purpose of these test values is to assess whether an instance of PFOS and PFOA contamination constitutes serious soil contamination and requires further measures.
The aforementioned test and target values are supported by science. See, for instance, the following scientific studies and reports:
- ‘Afleiden van streefwaarden voor perfluorverbindingen en enkele andere emerging contaminants’ [Derivation of target values for perfluoro compounds and certain other emerging contaminants] of 5 March 2021 by the Flemish Institute for Technological Research [VITO] and commissioned by the Public Waste Agency of Flanders [OVAM];
- ‘Toetsingswaarden voor PFOS en PFOA in bodem en voor PFS in grondwater - Aanvulling bij basisinformatie voor risico-evaluaties’ [Test values for PFOS and PFOA in soil and for PFS in groundwater - Supplement to basic information for risk assessments] of 4 April 2022, commissioned by OVAM;
- ‘Bindend normenkader voor PFOS en PFOA’ [Binding standards for PFOS and PFOA], study of 5 October 2022 conducted by VITO and commissioned by OVAM;
- ‘Voorstel Normenkader PFAS’ [Proposed PFAS standards], report of 9 November 2022 by Project Manager Karl Vrancken and commissioned by the Flemish government.
The temporary operating framework undergoes annual reviews, taking into account international developments in knowledge of and experience with PFAS.