Contaminated sites

The term "contaminated site" refers to all those areas where, as a result of past or ongoing human activities, it was detected an alteration of the quality of soil and groundwater that pose a risk to human health.
Contaminated Sites Regulation, introduced in Italy with the Decree of the Minister of the Environment ((now Minister of Environment and Energy Security - MASE) no. 471/99, has been replaced by the Title V "Remediation of contaminated sites" of Part IV of Legislative Decree no. 152/06 "Environmental Regulations" and its amendments. The law regulates the remediation and restoration activities of contaminated sites and defines the procedures, criteria and methods to eliminate the sources of pollution or at least to reduce the concentrations of pollutants in accordance with EU principles and rules, with particular reference to the "polluter pays" principle.
ISPRA, as a technical Institute supporting the Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) has, among its activities, the task to issue and update guidelines for the characterization and remediation of contaminated sites, in cooperation with other institutional bodies involved.

Related documents, available only in Italian version, are grouped in the following seven sections:

• Contaminated sites of national interest
• Regional register of sites to be remediated
• Priority Criteria for Intervention
  
  • ROCKS software
• Environmental characterization
• Vapour monitoring
  • Rome plus software
• Remediation technologies
• Health and environmental risk analysis

Last update: Jamuary 2024