CONTAMINATED SITES OF NATIONAL INTEREST

The Sites of National Interest have been identified through regulations of various kinds and are generally delineated by decree of the MASE, in agreement with the concerned regions. The remediation procedure for SINs is under the jurisdiction of MASE. Article 36-bis of Law no. 134 of 7 August 2012 introduced changes to the criteria for identifying SINs (Article 252 of Legislative Decree 152/06 and subsequent amendments). Based on these criteria, a review of the 57 sites classified as of national interest was carried out and, with Ministerial Decree of 11 January 2013, the number of SINs was reduced to 39. Administrative responsibility for the 18 sites that no longer met the new criteria was transferred to the respective regions. The judgment of the Lazio Regional Administrative Court (TAR) no. 7586/2014 of 17 July 2014 reinstated the area of the Sacco River Basin among the Sites of National Interest; therefore, the responsibility for the related procedures of characterization, securing and remediation was again assigned to the Ministry of the Environment. At the end of 2016, the consultation procedures were concluded and the perimeter of the SIN was published.

Law no. 205 of 27 December 2017 identified the SIN "Officina Grande Riparazione ETR" of Bologna. Law no. 120 of 11 September 2020 identified the SIN "Area vasta di Giugliano". As of today, the total number of SINs is 42 (Figure 1).

The perimeter of the SINs may vary over time, increasing or reducing the areas involved. This can happen on the basis of new information regarding the potential and/or confirmed contamination of new areas, or due to a more accurate definition of the zones affected by potential sources of contamination, which in some cases may lead to a reduction in the areas included in the SIN. In December 2021, the decree redefining the perimeter of the SIN of Livorno was published, which modified only the marine areas, completely excluding them from the SIN and transferring responsibility to the Region. In 2023, the decree redefining the perimeter of the SIN of Tito was published; the procedures relating to the areas excluded from the perimeter were transferred to the competence of the Region.

Article 17-bis of Decree-Law no. 152 of 6 November 2021, as amended, provides for the redefinition of the perimeters of contaminated sites currently classified as of national interest for the purpose of remediation, excluding areas and territories that no longer meet the requirements referred to in Article 252, paragraph 2, of Legislative Decree 152/06 and subsequent amendments. This activity, carried out by MASE with the support of SNPA and the competent local authorities, led in the first half of 2024 to the perimeter revision of five SINs (Terni-Papigno, Pioltello e Rodano, Cogoleto-Stoppani, Brindisi, Fidenza) (Table 1).

The progress of characterization and safety/remediation activities (Table 3) refers exclusively to land areas and is generally expressed as a percentage of surface area in relation to the entire delineated SIN surface on land, with the exception of some SINs for which it refers only to a portion of the delineated land area. From a geographical point of view, some SINs fall within the territory of more than one region: these are Pieve Vergonte and Cengio e Saliceto, which affect Piedmont and Lombardy, and Piedmont and Liguria, respectively (Table 1).

The regions with the most SINs are Lombardy (5 SINs plus part of the SIN Pieve Vergonte), Piedmont (3 SINs plus parts of Pieve Vergonte and Cengio e Saliceto), Tuscany (4), Apulia (4), and Sicily (4) (Table 2, Figure 2).

In terms of total SIN surface area (land + sea), the regions with the largest delineated areas are Piedmont (approx. 85,700 ha), Sardinia (approx. 56,800 ha), Sicily (approx. 24,400 ha), and Apulia (approx. 24,000 ha). The total land surface area of SINs represents 0.49% of the surface area of the Italian territory. At the regional level, only in one case (Piedmont, with 3.4%) does the SIN land area exceed 1% of the regional territory (Table 2).

The progress of procedures for soil and groundwater refers to the sum of the SIN land areas for which data on the progress status are available (Table 3, Figures 3 and 4); the SINs "Area vasta di Giugliano" and "Officina Grande Riparazione ETR di Bologna" are therefore excluded. Also excluded from the representation are the SINs of Balangero, Casale Monferrato, Emarese and Biancavilla due to the specific nature of the prevailing contamination (asbestos, asbestos-containing materials, fluoro-edenite) and the type of interventions, which relate to the securing of these materials.

The "n.a." values, which account for approximately 34% of the total area for both soil and groundwater, refer to areas included within the perimeter of some SINs that have not been considered for the purpose of assessing the progress status (e.g., mining areas in Sulcis-Iglesiente Guspinese, areas outside the plant in the SIN of Pieve Vergonte, etc.).

From the overall analysis, it emerges that characterization has been carried out for 59% of the land surface (55% for groundwater), remediation/safety measures have been approved by decree for 13% of the soil surface (17% for groundwater), and the procedure has been completed for 17% of the soil and 6% of the groundwater.