Federal Council amends four environmental ordinances

There are around 38,000 sites in Switzerland containing substances that may be hazardous to the environment. Of these contaminated sites, an estimated 4,000 need to be remediated. Under the current legal provisions, certain remediation projects require large quantities of material to be transported to disposal facilities, treated there and then transported to another location or exported abroad. This is despite the fact that they no longer pose an environmental hazard at the original site after any treatment.

With the approval of the federal government, it should now be possible to reuse such excavated material at the remediation site for large remediation projects. The Contaminated Sites Ordinance lays down the conditions for this: this reinstatement must be more beneficial to the environment than disposal. A renewed need for remediation must be ruled out and the site in question must be monitored in the long term after completion of the reinstatement to check its success. This amendment comes into force on June 1, 2024.

Chemical Risk Reduction Ordinance: adaptation of the regulations on refrigerants and batteries

For refrigerants, the Chemical Risk Reduction Ordinance (ORRChem) is to be adapted to the regulations in the EU and to the state of the art. This amendment will come into force on January 1, 2025. This will restrict the placing on the market of new systems and appliances with particularly climate-damaging refrigerants. This is necessary so that Switzerland can comply with the objectives of the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer. It also ensures that the level of protection in Switzerland does not fall behind that in the EU and that systems and appliances that may no longer be placed on the market in the EU are not sold in Switzerland.

A further adjustment concerns batteries. Particularly in view of the increasing number of batteries used to power electric cars, the aim is to ensure uniform implementation of the ORRChem. For this reason, the take-back obligation now stipulates that dealers can charge the additional costs of disposal for significantly damaged batteries. In addition, a new provision will be introduced for the reimbursement of the advance disposal fee (VEG) when batteries are exported. The revision of the ORRChem provides companies with greater legal certainty. This amendment will enter into force on July 1, 2024.

Transitional provisions for program agreements in the environmental sector

Since 2008, the Confederation and cantons have jointly defined the environmental objectives to be achieved and the subsidies to be provided by the Confederation in program agreements. For the coming programme period (2025-2028), the transitional provisions for the two programme agreements on water (revitalization) and forests (forest protection) need to be extended by four years in the associated ordinances. This will allow the work that has been started to be continued and completed within four years. The Water Protection Ordinance and the Forest Ordinance will therefore be amended as of January 1, 2025.

Source: bafu.admin.ch