Excavated soil and rock: new regulations

ON 22 AUGUST 2017 THE NEW REGULATIONS ON EXCAVATED SOIL AND ROCK ENTERED INTO FORCE (Italian Presidential Decree 120/2017). The new text expands and improves what was previously set out in Italian Legislative Decree 161/2012.

The regulation describes in detail the procedures to be followed in order to characterise the site being excavated and to verify whether the soil meets the imposed environmental quality requirements.

On our website we have launched a new section called "Excavated soil and rock", where you can find information and details about the Decree.

1. EXCAVATED SOIL AND ROCK: WHAT THEY ARE

Excavated soil and rock consists of material removed from the ground during excavations or underground works, for example: foundation excavations, tunnels, road networks. Such material can represent a by-product of the production activity, or a waste.

Excavated soil and rock is considered a by-product when:

It is considered waste when:

By-products may be used for: backfills, embankment construction, fillings, improvement of the environmental quality of a site. They can also be used as raw material in production cycles, provided that the final product is markedly different from the by-product.

2. WHAT IS NEW COMPARED WITH THE PREVIOUS REGULATIONS

Below is a list of the changes from the previous regulations.

The Italian Presidential Decree defines "large-scale" sites as those where the volume of material removed according to the project sections exceeds 6,000 m³ and the work is subject to EIA and/or IPPC. For such sites:

The competent regional environmental agencies (ARPA) carry out checks based on a specific annual programme, on a sample basis or in particular situations.

The proponent, when preparing the Use Plan (P.U.), can ask ARPA to carry out preliminary technical and administrative verifications aimed at the preliminary validation of the use plan; in this case, the waiting time before starting works is reduced to 45 days (instead of 90).

The proponent, after submitting the P.U., can ask ARPA to carry out the checks in advance.

The financial cost of all the above checks performed by ARPA is borne by the proponent.

Where the natural background concentrations exceed those listed in Annex 5 to Title V of Decree 152/06, the proponent reports the exceedance pursuant to Art. 242 of Italian Legislative Decree 152/2006 and must submit to ARPA a survey plan, executed at the proponent's expense and in dialogue with ARPA. Based on the results, ARPA defines the natural background values to be used by the proponent for the preparation of the P.U.; reuse is limited to the production site itself or to a site with similar background values.

For soil and rock produced at a site subject to remediation, the environmental quality requirements, referring both to the production site and the destination site, are validated by ARPA within sixty days of the request and at the proponent's expense.

The P.U. update procedures and any extensions are described in Articles 15 and 16 of the Decree and are partly different from those of Ministerial Decree 161/2012.

The Decree provides that, in case of ARPA non-compliance, the activities mentioned above can be carried out equivalently by other public bodies designated by the Ministry, again at the proponent's expense.

On fill materials, the Decree provides that the component of materials of anthropogenic origin mixed with natural materials cannot exceed 20% by weight, and Annex 10 sets out a methodology for determining this percentage.

It also provides that fill matrices must be subject to the leaching test set out in Annex 3 of Ministerial Decree 05/02/1998 on waste recovery, excluding the asbestos parameter, and that, for the relevant parameters, the limit set for groundwater (Table 2, Annex 5 of Title V of Part IV of Italian Legislative Decree 152/06) must be respected, except for background values approved by control bodies.

For asbestos, Table 1 of the remediation rules applies, with the limit set at 1,000 mg/kg for all intended uses. Article 24, paragraph 2 provides, however, that in the case of natural asbestos exceeding the limit, soil and rock may be reused at the production site through a reuse project approved by the competent ARPA and ASL.

On transport, the Decree provides in Annex 7 a template that must be filled out in triplicate for all transport operations, equivalent to a copy of the written contract. Transport documentation must be kept for 3 years. The rule applies to all types of sites.

The Declaration of Successful Use (D.A.U.) is also covered by a template provided by the Decree in Annex 8, to be used for all sites. This declaration must be sent to the municipalities of the production and destination sites and to the competent ARPA, and must be submitted within the validity period of the P.U. or of the declaration referred to in Art. 21, otherwise the by-product status is lost.

3. EXECUTIVE PROCEDURES FOR SOIL CHARACTERISATION

The characterisation of excavated soil and rock is carried out through a thorough investigation campaign before the start of excavation works. Sampling is performed by means of boreholes or excavations. The minimum number of boreholes to be carried out within an area depends on the type and area occupied by the site. In particular, the Decree describes:

The Decree describes in detail the executive procedures for the characterisation of large sites subject to EIA or IPPC, while it does not specify how to proceed for the other types of site. In these sites, individual ARPAs may describe operational procedures, valid within the regional territory. In other cases, in the absence of established procedures, it is good practice to follow the provisions described in the Decree for large sites subject to EIA or IPPC.

At large sites subject to EIA or IPPC, the number of boreholes/excavations to be carried out is 3, increasing with the increase of the area subject to excavation (see the table in Annex 2 of the Decree). For linear works (e.g.: roads, railways, cycle paths, etc.), samples must be taken every 500 m of the route (or every 2,000 m in the case of preliminary studies). For tunnel works, boreholes/excavations must be carried out every 1,000 m of the route (or every 5,000 m in the case of preliminary studies).

For each borehole or excavation in which environmental requirements are to be verified, at least 3 samples must be taken at various depths (between 0 and 1 m, at the bottom of the excavation, and in the intermediate area between the two), which will be subjected to chemical analysis to identify the concentrations of the various components present in the soil.

ARPA Veneto has described the following operational procedures for small sites and for large sites not subject to EIA or IPPC:

For each type of site, ARPAV describes the analytes to be analysed in the chemical analyses.

Environmental quality requirements are met when the concentrations of the components are below the Contamination Threshold Concentrations (CSC) set in Annex 5 to Title V of Italian Legislative Decree 152/2006. If the values are above, the regulatory procedure provided for by Decree 152/2006 for potentially contaminated sites must be initiated.

If the excavation involves areas immersed in the water table, it will also be necessary to collect a sample of groundwater for each borehole and, if present, of the volatile compounds contained in it.

Excavated soil and rock can also include fill material. This material consists of soil mixed with material of anthropogenic origin used for backfills, fillings, etc. It can be considered a by-product if the percentage by weight of anthropogenic material is no more than 20% and the chemical composition meets the environmental quality requirements.

4. ANY DOUBTS? CONTACT US!

Excavated soil and rock are quite a complex matter, requiring particular attention. Should you have any doubts about regulatory aspects, or if you need consulting for your sites, our team of professionals will be glad to provide you with all technical assistance on the matter.

To contact us simply leave a message on the blog, or you can reach us via email or phone.

Below we attach the Italian Presidential Decree, and a summary of the regulations.

Summary of regulations, August 2017

Italian Presidential Decree on excavated soil and rock 120/17

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