Indonesia publishes regulation on contaminated soil remediation 
On December 20, 2018, the Regulation of the Minister of Environment and Forestry No. 101 of 2018 on guidelines for the remediation of soils contaminated by hazardous waste (B3 waste) (the Regulation) was enacted in Indonesia and came into effect immediately. The regulation specifies the details on the remediation procedures of soil contamination, consisting of totally 43 articles and five annexes. When soil pollution is found, it is required to identify the contamination, determine the scale of the pollution, prepare a plan to restore environmental functions, undertake cleanup activities, and conduct post-remediation monitoring, as stipulated in the regulation. With the implementation of this regulation, the previous “Regulation of the Minister of Environment No. 33 of 2009” became invalid.
The original text of this regulation is downloadable at the following URL.
http://103.52.213.235/jdih/uploads/files/P.101-2018%20TERKONTAMINASI%20LIMBAH%20B3.pdf
Remediation procedure for soil contamination
The remediation procedure for soil contamination is as follows:
- Planning
- Implementation
- Surveillance
- Evaluation
- Post-recovery monitoring
In the “Planning,” the “Environmental Functions Restoration Plan,” (which has to follow a format specified in Annex 2 of this regulation) must be prepared by collecting detailed information such as the historical overview of contamination, mapping of pollution distribution, identification of pollutants and the pollution sources, determination of B3 waste and the sale of pollution, diffusion route of B3 waste, etc. The prepared plan must be reported to the Minister of Environment and Forestry for approval.
After the remediation activities are completed, it should be reported with results to the Minister (the report must be written with the format specified in Annex IV). The report must be submitted at least once a month even during the cleanup operation activities. The final report sent to the Minister will be verified by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry. If the cleanup activities are done, a “Decision on Completion of B3 Waste Contaminated Soil Recovery’ will be issued to the applicant. After the restoration activities are fully completed, groundwater monitoring is required for one year. This groundwater monitoring must be undertaken at least every six months and the results must be reported to the Minister of Environment and Forestry.
In the case that the pollution sources and the polluter are unknown, the central or local government is responsible for soil remediation, depending on the area of the contaminated site.
