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COMMON FORUM Autumn meeting 2021, virtual
1 October, 25 November and 2 December 2021
The meeting report is now available under https://commonforum.eu/meetings21Autumn.asp.
COMMON FORUM Springtime meeting 2022
31 May - 3 June 2022
Orléans (France) with the possibility to join online
- Tuesday (afternoon): WG & team meetings
- Wednesday: Plenary day
- Thursday:
- morning ’site & project visit’ at BRGM
- final plenary, wrap-up & conclusions
- Friday (morning): WG & team meetings
A likely focus will be given for preparing inputs to EC Soil Expert group and its 16th meeting on 9 June 2022.
A preliminary agenda including travel information will be communicated until middle of April 2022.
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Recent changes / new experts representing COMMON FORUM members:
From Countries:
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Slovakia – March 2022:
Maria Gažíová replacing Roman Hangác
Ministry of Environment of the Slovak Republic
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Germany – February 2022:
Viktoriya Lukhmanova replacing Sabine Neulen
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection Germany
From Networks:
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NICOLE – January 2022:
Hayley Thomas replacing Lucia Buvé
A warm welcome!
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EC initiative Soil health - call for evidence & public consultation
Regarding the initiative on “Soil health – protecting, sustainably managing and restor-ing EU soils, the call
for evidence and public consultation was open until 16 March 2022.
For further information and the delivered feedbacks, click
https://ec.eu-ropa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/13350-Soil-health-protect-ing-sustainably-managing-and-restoring-EU-soils_en
CAP national strategic plans - available online
The CAP national strategic plans submitted by Member States to date, that are availa-ble online, can be found at
this address since 24 January 2022:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/key-policies/common-agricultural-policy/cap-strategic-plans_en
Please note that this is a work in progress and will be updated accordingly with the publication of further
national strategic plans.
European Soil Data Centre (ESDAC) - Newsletter
ESDAC Newsletter No.140 (April 2022) -
https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/public_path/newsletter/202204.pdf
ESDAC Newsletter No.139 (March 2022) -
https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/public_path/newsletter/202203.pdf
ESDAC Newsletter No.138 (February 2022) -
https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/public_path/newsletter/202202.pdf
ESDAC Newsletter No.137 (January 2022) -
https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/public_path/newsletter/202201.pdf
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ITRC Soil Background and Risk Assessment Guidance
While some state and federal agencies and other entities have guidance documents
regarding soil background, there is not one comprehensive and widely accepted guidance document that summarizes
the state of the science on this topic. This ITRC guidance document is intended to fill the gap by providing a
comprehensive defensible
framework for establishing and using soil background in risk assessments. It focuses
on the process of establishing defensible background concentrations of naturally occurring or anthropogenic
ambient chemicals to be used for risk assessment at contaminated sites.
View and use at https://sbr-1.itrcweb.org/
Soil Screening Values for Assessing Ecological Risk
Report – ShARE id26, January 2022
The United Kingdom's Environment Agency has updated its guidelines for screening
the risks to soils from chemicals released through the landspreading of waste-derived
materials. A spreadsheet tool allows the screening values to be adjusted for site-specific soil properties.
View or download the documents at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/soil-screening-values-for-assessing-ecological-risk
Outside the Safe Operating Space of the Planetary Boundary for Novel Entities
Environ. Sci. Technol. 2022, 56, 3, 1510–1521
We submit that the safe operating space of the planetary boundary of novel entities is exceeded since annual
production and releases are increasing at a pace that outstrips the global capacity for assessment and
monitoring. The novel entities boundary in the planetary boundaries framework refers to entities that are novel
in a geological sense and that could have large-scale impacts that threaten the integrity of Earth system
processes. We review the scientific literature relevant to quantifying the boundary for novel entities and
highlight plastic pollution as a particular aspect of high concern. An impact pathway from production of novel
entities to impacts on Earth system processes is presented. We define and apply three criteria for assessment of
the suitability of control variables for the boundary: feasibility, relevance, and comprehensiveness. We
recommend taking urgent action to reduce the harm associated with exceeding the boundary by reducing the
production and releases of novel entities, noting that even so, the persistence of many novel entities and/or
their associated effects will continue to pose a threat.
View or download at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c04158
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NICOLE Spring Workshop 2022
The NICOLE spring workshop will be held from 3 - 5 May 2022 in Brussels, Belgium as a hybrid
meeting under the working title "Technical Solutions for Climate Resilience in Industrial Land Management"
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Launch of the International Network on Soil Pollution (INSOP)
The FAO-GSP International Network on Soil Pollution (INSOP) has the overall aim of
stopping soil pollution and achieving the global goal of Zero Pollution. It will bring together a wide range of
experts to collect, harmonize and disseminate available information on soil pollution and seek solutions to
prevent, control and eliminate this hazard while improving soil health. INSOP will be launched on 22 April at a
virtual event,
To discover more about the INSOP Network follow the link https://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/insop/en/
To attend the virtual launch of the Network follow the link https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_e3htFQMnQAWiN6qPAFDGcw
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ISO CEN/TC 444
CEN/TC444 ("Environmental characterization of solid matrices") recently launched voting procedures regarding the
adoption of ISO standards (mirror TC ISO 190 “Soil quality”) regarding ecotoxicological characterization:
- Adoption of ISO 15799 “Soil quality — Guidance on the ecotoxicological characterization of soils and soil
materials”
- Adoption ISO 17616 “Soil quality - Guidance on the choice and evaluation of bioassays for ecotoxicological
characterization of soils and soil materials”
- Adoption ISO 19204 “Soil quality — Procedure for site-specific ecological risk assessment of soil
contamination (soil quality TRIAD approach)”
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Remediation management for local and wide-spread PFAS contamination
T. Held, M. Reinhard, November 2020
The PFAS guidance document (German version published in 2020) has been translated
and is now available both in German and in English. The work aid "Remediation management for local and area-wide
PFAS contaminations" supports the responsible authorities in the pre-selection, evaluation and decision for a
suitable and proportionate
remediation procedure, shows relevant basic conditions and accompanying measures.
View or download the English version at https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/remediation-management-for-local-wide-spread-pfas
PFAS Strategic Roadmap: EPA's Commitments to Action 2021-2024
EPA, 26 pp, 2021
All levels of government—federal, Tribal, state, and local—need to exercise increased
and sustained leadership to accelerate progress to clean up PFAS contamination, prevent new contamination, and
make game-changing breakthroughs in the scientific understanding of PFAS. The EPA Council on PFAS developed a
strategic roadmap to lay
out EPA's whole-of-agency approach to addressing PFAS. The roadmap sets timelines
for the Agency to take specific actions. The strategic roadmap builds on and accelerates implementation of
policy actions identified in the Agency's 2019 action plan and
commits to bolder new policies to safeguard public health, protect the environment, and hold polluters
accountable. The actions described in this document represent important and meaningful steps to safeguard
communities from PFAS contamination.
EPA's integrated approach to PFAS is focused on three central directives:
- Research: Invest in research, development, and innovation to increase understanding of PFAS exposures and
toxicities, human health and ecological effects,
and effective interventions that incorporate the best available science.
- Restrict: Pursue a comprehensive approach to proactively prevent PFAS from
entering air, land, and water at levels that can adversely impact human health
and the environment.
- Remediate: Broaden and accelerate the clean-up of PFAS contamination to protect human health and ecological
systems.
Follow the link to the Roadmap: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-10/pfas-roadmap_final-508.pdf
See slides from October 2021 webinar: https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2021-10/slides-epa-pfas-roadmap-public-webinars.pdf
See webinar from January 2022 on Risk Reduction Initiatives for PFAS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI2Z0XL9cxs
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New documents on EUGRIS, the platform for European contaminated soil and water information.
Resources, events projects and news items added on EUGRIS can be viewed at:
www.eugris.info/whatsnew.asp.
Then select the appropriate month and year for the updates in which you are interested.
However, here is a selection of new additions to EUGRIS in 2022 prepared by Paul Bardos
(r3 Environmental Technology Ltd) for COMMON FORUM members.
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See all announcements on COMMON FORUM website at https://commonforum.eu/announcement_conferences.asp
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