Legislation and protocols
Last updated on December 2, 2024The Environmental Management Act, Contaminated Sites Regulation, and Protocols determine the requirements for site remediation in B.C.
On this page
Environmental Management Act (EMA)
The following parts of EMA are directly related to site remediation:
- EMA Part 4: Contaminated Sites Remediation
- EMA Part 5: Remediation of Mineral Exploration Sites and Mines
- EMA Part 10: Offences and Penalties
Contaminated Sites Regulation (CSR)
Protocols
Protocols are technical and administrative procedures that are legally required under EMA:
- Protocol 1: Detailed Risk Assessment (Revised) (PDF, 544KB)
- Protocol 2: Site-Specific Numerical Soil Standards (PDF, 479KB)
- Protocol 3: Blending, Mixing, or Dilution as a Remediation Approach (PDF, 201KB)
- Protocol 4: Establishing Local Background Concentrations in Soil (Revised) (PDF, 998KB)
- Protocol 6: Applications with Approved Professional Recommendations and Pre-approvals (Revised) (PDF, 359KB)
- Protocol 7: Repealed 2020-02-21
- Protocol 8: Security for Contaminated Sites (PDF, 218KB)
- Protocol 9: Determining Local Background Groundwater Quality (Revised) (PDF, 400KB)
- Protocol 10: Hardness Dependent Site-Specific Freshwater Standard for Zinc (PDF, 370KB)
- Protocol 11: Upper Cap Concentrations of Substances (Revised) (PDF, 2.9MB)
- Protocol 12: Site Risk Classification, Reclassification and Reporting (Revised) (PDF, 710KB)
- Protocol 13: Screening Level Risk Assessment (Revised) (PDF, 902KB)
- Protocol 14: Requirements for Determining Barite Sites (PDF, 256KB)
- Protocol 15: Soil Treatment Facility Design and Operation for Bioremediation of Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soil (PDF, 124KB)
- Protocol 16: Determining the Presence and Mobility of Nonaqueous Phase Liquids and Odorous Substances (Revised) (PDF, 259KB)
- Protocol 17: Remediation Forms (Revised) (PDF, 20MB)
- Protocol 18: Criteria for Establishing Multiple Land Uses at Sites (PDF, 142KB)
- Protocol 19: Site Investigation and Reporting (PDF, 309KB)
- Protocol 20: Detailed Ecological Risk Assessment Requirements (Revised) (PDF, 479KB)
- Protocol 21: Water Use Determinations (PDF, 372KB)
- Protocol 22: Application of Vapour Attenuation Factors to Characterize Vapour Contamination (PDF, 417KB)
- Protocol 27: Soil Leachate Tests for Use in Deriving Site-Specific Numerical Soil Standards (PDF, 367KB)
- Protocol 28: 2016 Standards Derivation Methods (Revised) (PDF, 2.6MB)
- Protocol 30: Classifying Substances as Carcinogenic (PDF, 136KB)
2024 amendments
Review recent amendments to protocols affecting contaminated sites:
- Protocol 6: Applications with Approved Professional Recommendations and Pre-approvals (Revised) (PDF, 359KB)
- Protocol 11: Upper Cap Concentrations of Substances (Revised) (PDF, 2.9MB)
- Protocol 19: Site Investigation and Reporting (PDF, 309KB)
- Protocol 22: Application of Vapour Attenuation Factors to Characterize Vapour Contamination (PDF, 417KB)
Previous amendments
EMA and CSR amendments and schedule can be found on:
The information on this web page does not replace the legislative requirements in EMA or its regulations and it does not list all provisions for contaminated site services.
If there are differences between this information and the Act, Regulation, or Protocols, the Act, Regulation, and Protocols apply.