Use of soil, dredge spoil, and building materials
For the application of soil, silt, or dredge spoil and construction materials, the rules of the Soil Quality Decree apply. The Soil Quality Decree establishes the regulations for quality assurance in soil management, such as carrying out batch testing and mixing different batches of soil or dredge spoil
Soil and dredge spoil
Requirements are imposed on the quality of the soil and dredge spoil. You must be able to demonstrate this quality with an environmental health statement. An environmental health statement could be:
- Waterbed and soil survey (NEN 5720)
- AP-04 batch inspection
- Waterbed quality map
Clean dredge spoil from watercourses can be spread over the entire adjacent plot. The water authority checks the quality of the dredge spoil in suspicious situations. If the quality is not good, the water authority will act. So, It is wise to have the quality of a batch of soil or dredge spoil determined.
Report the use of soil, dredge spoil construction materials
As of 1 January 2024, you must report the use of soil, dredge spoil, and building materials on the Digital System for Environment and Planning Act (DSO). Environment and Planning Portal (overheid.nl)
- You should always report soil and dredge spoil 5 business days before use.
- This also applies to storage for less than 6 months and temporary storage prior to use.
When are you not required to report soil and dredge spoil?
You do not need to report soil and dredge spoil in the following cases:
- If you spread dredge spoil on the adjacent plot.
- If you apply soil or dredge spoil in an agricultural business. The condition is that the soil or dredge spoil comes from a plot of land that belongs to your agricultural business. And that you grow a similar crop on that plot of land as on the plot where you apply the soil or dredge spoil.
- If you move or remove soil or dredge spoil from its use temporarily, and then return it to virtually the same place and under the same conditions.
- If you apply clean soil and dredge spoil in quantities of less than 50 cubic metres.
- If you are a private individual and do not use soil or dredge spoil for professional purposes.
Building materials
Do you want to use stone-based building materials? The soil and surface water must be protected against contamination. Surface water is all natural water that can be seen on the surface, such as ditches, streams, canals, and ponds, and is connected to groundwater. Therefore, you may only use building materials that comply with the standards set out in the Soil Quality Decree. You can demonstrate this with a environmental soil quality statement. If an employee of the water authority asks for the statement, you must be able to show it.
There are exceptions for certain materials and situations. These are known to almost always meet the standards. For example, you do not need a statement for the use of concrete, ceramics, natural stone, masonry mortar, and bricks.
Quality assurance in soil management
Quality assurance in soil management is part of the Soil Quality Decree. This decree specifies the requirements that must be met by contractors that carry out soil work. A number of activities may only be carried out by certain companies. These companies must be certified and accredited. These are:
- Soil remediation
- Fieldwork
- Sampling during batch inspections
- Performing a soil analysis
Would your company like to submit an application for accreditation? You can do so at Rijkswaterstaat. This organisation manages the accreditation scheme on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.
Digital soil and water quality map
All available soil and waterbed information from local councils, provincial executives, and the water authority is important when activities are carried out in the soil and waterbed. This includes soil transport, the purchase of pieces of land (referred to as plots in the Land Registry), excavation work, dredging or removing sludge, maintenance of dykes and flood embankments, and the construction of nature-friendly banks.
The digital quality maps contain information about the environmental quality of the waterbeds in the countryside and flood defences.
- Maintenance work on watercourses often releases dredge spoil or sludge that the water authority can use to raise and reinforce flood defences for example. By mapping the quality of the waterbed in advance, released dredge spoil or sludge does not have to be inspected separately with waterbed or soil surveys.
- In addition, it will be easier to use soil in bank restoration work. Apart from the water authority, local councils, contractors, and others who carry out dredging or maintenance work on watercourses in the countryside also use this map. All of this promotes the sustainable reuse of soil and dredge spoil or sludge and limits unnecessary transport.
Documents
If you are unable to read the documents for any reason or if you have any questions, please send an email to info@noorderzijlvest.nl.
Soil information
Information about soil at the Information Point Living Environment (iplo.nl)