Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2013C00288:reg:1
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2013C00288
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 1
Character Range: 702365–704202

1                   Introduction
This guideline is applicable to laboratory analysis of contaminated soils for assessment of site contamination and disposal of contaminated soil. It also contains information on the collection of contaminated soil, including storage and handling considerations to enable valid analysis.

Rigorous characterisation and quantification of soil contaminants helps to ensure valid assessments of site contamination. Consistency in analysis and assessment can only be achieved if there is uniformity in procedures including sample collection, storage and handling, pre-treatment, extraction, analytical methodology and data analysis. This document gives guidance on quality control, quality assurance and techniques for sample preparation, extraction and analytical methods.

1.1              Audience
This guideline should be used by people undertaking sampling and analysis of potentially contaminated soils. Its main audience includes but is not limited to:
    * laboratory staff
    * environmental consultants, site assessors
    * regulatory licence holders (e.g. for waste management or other statutory processes)
    * custodians of waste/sites containing waste.

1.2              Exclusions
Groundwater analyses are beyond the scope of this Schedule.

1.3              Schedule structure
The Schedule provides guidelines on laboratory analysis of potentially contaminated soils, including:
    * the philosophy behind the methods selected
    * guidance on quality assurance procedures
    * techniques for sample preparation designed to provide confidence and comparability of analytical results.
The Schedule provides analytical methods for potentially contaminated soils and, in particular, a list of methods for analysis of physicochemical properties of inorganic and organic chemicals in soil.