By adopting the decree of 5 December 2008 concerning soil management, the Walloon region makes use of a new regulation concerning environmental protection, specifically relating to soil protection and management and, by extension, water protection. By adopting this regulation, the legislator has also defined reference standards on the quality of soils and underground water.
The implementation of this regulation implies the use of technical resources, notably concerning soil samples and analysis, which are set out in the Walloon sampling and analysis compendium (Compendium Wallon des méthodes d’Echantillonnage et d’Analyse, CWEA).
The first CWEA was exclusively comprised of essential elements to meet the obligations of annex 1 of the decree of 5 December 2008 relating to soil management.
The CWEA intends to gradually cover the different environmental sectors, which is to say not only soil but also waste, water, and air.
This will eventually result in a unique, rational, and practical system able to evolve based on international, European, national, and regional regulations but also have the necessary capacities to integrate new technologies and methodologies.
Scope of application
The Walloon region’s administration (General Directorate of Agriculture, Natural Resources, and the Environment) has entrusted ISSeP with the development of this compendium intended for experts and laboratories likely to be accredited in the Walloon region.
The aim is to achieve a high level of sample quality and analysis and to guarantee uniform application over the entire Walloon region.
Various decrees from the Walloon government require the analyses of chemical and/or microbiological parameters on the different environmental matrices.
Among these decrees are the following:
- the decree of 5 December 2008 concerning soil management, which is based on the first compendium produced for the Walloon region;
- the decree from the Walloon government of 12 January 1995 concerning the use on or in soils of sewage sludge or sludge from septic tank sludge processing centres;
- the decree from the Walloon government of 14 June 2001 encouraging the recovery of certain waste;
- the decree from the Walloon government of 4 March 1999 concerning service stations;
- the decree from the Walloon government of 10 June 1999 modifying the decree from the Walloon government of 30 November 1995 concerning the management of materials removed from the beds and banks of water courses through dredging and dragging works;
- the water code in its articles D275 to D316 concerning tax on the disposal of industrial and domestic waste water;
- the decrees from the Walloon government setting the sectoral and integral conditions relating to swimming pools.
This document describes the minimum requirements set out for sampling and analysis methods. It forms part of Walloon legislation in terms of the characterisation of the different environmental matrices, but also in terms of the decontamination of abandoned economic activity sites.
It forms part of the general framework of sustainable development, specifically the protection of this neglected richness which relates to agricultural soils. It is also involved in quality agricultural production in the Walloon region.
It is involved in the regional policy framework for the management of polluted soils.
The compendium will gradually cover all environmental sectors such as air, water, waste, and soil.
The 2014 version notably covers water analyses in the context of tax on the discharge of industrial and domestic waste waters as well as bacteriological analyses in the context of the control of swimming pools and legionella sampling and analysis methods.
Table des matières