The province has released updates to Protocols 4 and 9 on the Legislation and protocols page. The revised protocols come into effect immediately (June 19, 2026). These protocols provide procedures for qualified professionals to establish local background concentrations in soil and groundwater, respectively. 

Summary of Revisions 

• Improving protocol structure and clarity and updating terminology. 
• Adding circumstances for when director’s approval is not required to establish local background concentrations in certain low-risk situations. 
• In Protocol 9, amendments to Table 1 were completed to correct known errors in calculated local background concentration values for the Thompson Okanagan Region. 
• All hardness values were removed from the Table. There is no Contaminated Sites Regulation groundwater standard for hardness, which should be measured in the aquatic receiving environment to apply hardness-dependent standards. As such, removing hardness from Table 1 should have no effect on the use of Protocol 9. 
• For the Thompson Okanagan Region, the value for strontium was revised following review and adjustment of the data set, including removal of an outlier not previously identified. The value changed from 47,000 ug/L to 6,500 ug/L. The effect of this change is expected to be limited as strontium is rarely identified as a contaminant of concern at sites in B.C. 

Please view the video recording for a summary of the changes to Protocol 4 and 9:  https://youtu.be/qakbvGFHRns 

Implementation 

Implementation of these changes will improve service delivery timelines, reduce application backlogs and reduce fees for applicants seeking contaminated sites services. Clarifying requirements will reduce enquiries and support more successful application outcomes.  

The Background Concentrations webpage was updated to align with the protocol amendments.  

Clients with applications in the queue will be contacted if their application is eligible for withdrawal. 

Please contact RemediationFAQs@gov.bc.ca if you have any questions about implementation of these changes.