Soil Quality
What is it?
Since July 1, 2008, the Soil Quality Decree has been in effect. This contains the requirements for the application of building materials, soil and dredged material. Together with a number of Frisian municipalities in the region, Tytsjerksteradiel has drawn up a Soil Management Memorandum which describes the procedure for dealing with the Soil Quality Decree.
Extending Soil Management Note
On November 28, 2023, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen decided to extend the current Soil Management Memorandum until new updated soil policy is adopted. The validity of the current Soil Management Memorandum expires this year and needs to be updated. The reason for extending is because the updating of the soil policy takes place during the transition period to the Environment Act, which requires additional time and coordination.
How does it work?
The participating municipalities make almost full use of the national generic policy framework when applying soil and dredged material. The generic policy framework is based on the standstill principle at site level when applying soil and dredged material. Despite the fact that in our municipality there is relatively clean soil and relatively little earthmoving is done, for road verges, cable and pipelines and dredged material we have chosen for area-specific policy.
In order to facilitate the application of soil or dredged material within the region, a function map and soil quality maps have been prepared by the municipalities. The soil quality maps consist of:
- an application map;
- an excavation map.
The soil function map plays a role in the application of batches of soil or dredged material on land according to the generic framework. One of the principles of this generic framework is that the environmental sanitary quality of the lot of soil or dredged material to be applied must be suitable for the use of the receiving soil (the soil function class).
The excavation map gives an indication of the chemical quality of a batch of soil being excavated for application elsewhere. A subdivision is made between the topsoil (0 - 0.5 m - mv) and the subsoil (0.5 - 2.0 m - mv).
The application map indicates the quality class that a batch of soil or dredged material must meet when applying to a particular location within the participating municipality.
What does this mean for applying soil?
The soil quality map can be used as a recognized means of proof for locations that are unsuspected for soil contamination. Via the interactive website soil quality map Fryslân, Geosolutions.nl, you can check whether soil from location A to B can be used based on the soil quality map, or whether additional research is required.
Soil quality map supplemented with PFAS
On July 1, 2020 and December 2021, the Minister established the new temporary background value for two types of PFAS in Dutch soil. For the full description, please refer to the Temporary Action Framework.
In February 2020, the college adopted the soil quality map supplemented with PFAS. For this purpose, a study of the background values of PFAS in soil was conducted in Fryslân. It turned out that the background values are lower than the temporary background values as included in the Temporary Action Framework of July 1, 2020. The college has decided to adopt the temporary national values for PFAS for our soil quality map. This means adhering to the application standards from the national Temporary Action Framework as shown in Table 1.
Table 1- Application standards for applying soil and dredged material to land soil above groundwater level (in ug/kg d.s.).
| Job Class | PFOS | PFOA | Other PFAS | Applicable on land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture/nature | 1,4 | 1,9 | 1,4 | Free, with the exception of groundwater protection areas |
| Living | 3,0 | 7,0 | 3,0 | Living |
| Industry | 3,0 | 7,0 | 3,0 | Industry |
| Not applicable | >3,0 | >7,0 | >3,0 | Cleaning or Landfill |
The Wetterskip Fryslân is the competent authority for applying soil and dredged material in surface water. All application standards can be found in the Temporary framework.
Report
If you plan to apply building materials, soil or dredged material, you must report it through the national digital hotline.
Information or questions?
Do you have questions about applying soil and/or the policy? If so, please contact the municipality at telephone number 14 0511.
On the Bodemplus website you can find all the information around soil quality.
Additional Information
Through the website of Geosolutions the various map layers are combined and anyone dealing with earthmoving can clearly see where soil may or may not be applied. Via this page under the heading documents, the policy documents of all participating municipalities can be accessed and the link to the Bodemplus website is mentioned.
Earthmoving Brochure
You can open and view the 2018 Soil Field Booklet for contractors, consulting firms and other related parties under documents. Under documents is also the Soil Management Memorandum.