Glossary

The BBodSchG (Bundes-Bodenschutzgesetz) is the German Federal Soil Protection Act.
It establishes the legal framework for protecting soil functions, preventing harmful soil changes, and remediating contaminated sites.
The Act defines key principles, responsibilities of landowners and authorities, and general obligations for soil protection and remediation across Germany.

The BBodSchV (Bundes-Bodenschutz- und Altlastenverordnung) is the Federal Soil Protection and Contaminated Sites Ordinance, issued under the BBodSchG.
It specifies technical and procedural requirements, including assessment values, investigation methods, and criteria for evaluating soil contamination and risks to human health and the environment. The ordinance provides detailed guidance for the practical implementation of the BBodSchG.

It specifies:

• Trigger, precautionary, and action values (Prüfwerte, Vorsorgewerte, Maßnahmenwerte)

• Investigation and sampling methods

• Risk assessment criteria for human health, groundwater, and ecosystems

A congener is a chemically related compound that shares the same basic structure as others in its group but differs in the number or position of substituents

The half-life of a substance is the time required for 50% of its amount to be reduced by natural processes of transformation, degradation, or elimination.

• Environmental half-life: the time it takes for half of a chemical to break down or disappear in the environment (air, water, soil, sediments). This depends on ambient factors like temperature, light/UV radiation, presence of oxygen, and microbial activity.

• Biological half-life: the time it takes for half of a chemical in a living organism to be metabolized, excreted, or otherwise removed from the body.

The concept of half-life is important because it indicates how persistent a pollutant is in nature and in organisms. Substances with long half-lives can accumulate and cause long-term effects, while those with short half-lives tend to be removed more quickly.

In organic chemistry, a homologous series is a sequence of compounds with the same functional group and similar chemical properties in which the members of the series differ by the number of repeating units they contain- Wikipedia

The term NAPL is an abbreviation for non-aqueous phase liquids. These substances are organic hydrocarbons in a liquid phase that are generally insoluble in water.

These liquids are lighter than water and float on the groundwater surface. LNAPLs accumulate in the fluctuation zone where the water table rises and falls seasonally, creating a contamination "smear" across this vertical interval. 
Common examples: Mineral oil hydrocarbons, petroleum products (gasoline, diesel, heating oil), monoaromatic compounds (BTEX)
Typical sources: Leaking fuel tanks, gas stations, industrial oil spills

These substances are heavier than water and sink through the groundwater until they reach an impermeable layer at the aquifer base. DNAPLs can pool in subsurface depressions, creating persistent contamination sources.

Common examples: Chlorinated solvents such as tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene, halogenated aromatic compounds
Typical sources: Dry cleaners, metal degreasing facilities, chemical manufacturing sites

A site that has been contaminated (historically or newly) and where the polluter pays principle (PPP) cannot be applied. Either the polluter has gone or is financially not able to support the intervention cost.

Persistent Organic Pollutants are a group of toxic chemicals that remain in the environment for long periods because they resist degradation. Their main features are:

• Persistence: They do not break down easily under natural conditions.

• Bioaccumulation: They concentrate in fatty tissues of living organisms.

• Biomagnification: Their levels increase higher up the food chain.

• Long-range transport: POPs can travel across borders through air and water, contaminating regions far from where they were released (including the Arctic).

Examples include dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and banned pesticides such as DDT, aldrin, dieldrin, and heptachlor.

Because of their persistence and ability to move across borders, POPs are considered a global pollution problem, requiring international cooperation to manage. The first global agreement to control them was the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2001). It initially targeted 12 chemicals, often called the “dirty dozen,” which include:

• Nine pesticides (e.g., aldrin, chlordane, DDT, dieldrin, endrin, heptachlor, mirex, toxaphene, and hexachlorobenzene)

• Two industrial chemicals (PCBs, hexachlorobenzene, counted also as pesticide)

• Two groups of unintentional byproducts (dioxins and furans)

Since then, the list of POPs under regulation has expanded to include many more chemicals.

The Polluter Pays Principle is a fundamental guideline in environmental law and economics stating that the parties responsible for environmental pollution must bear the costs of its prevention, mitigation, and remediation, By internalising negative externalities, the principle ensures that the financial burden of contamination is shifted from the general public to the specific entities that benefitted from the polluting activity.

Key Legal Frameworks

• European Union: It is a core pillar of the Environmental Liability Directive (2004/35/EC), which establishes a comprehensive regime for damages to soil, water, and protected species,.

• Germany: The principle is enacted through the Federal Soil Protection Act (BBodSchG), which mandates that liable parties finance investigations and remedial measures,.

• International: It is a standard component of environmental policy within the OECD and the United States' CERCLA (Superfund) legislation,.

References:

Dupuis, J., & Knoepfel, P. (2015). The Politics of Contaminated Sites Management: Institutional Regime Change and Actors’ Mode of Participation in the Environmental Management of the Bonfol Chemical Waste Landfill in Switzerland. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-11307-4

Förstner, U. (2012). Umweltschutztechnik. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-22973-2

Gesetz Zum Schutz Vor Schädlichen Bodenveränderungen Und Zur Sanierung von Altlasten (Bundes-Bodenschutzgesetz – BBodSchG), I Bundesgesetzblatt 502 (1998). https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/bbodschg/

Held, T., & Gerschütz, S. (2021). Management of contaminated sites of the petrochemical industry. Umweltbundesamt, Arcadis GmbH. https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/en/publikationen/management-of-contaminated-sites-of-the