Guidance materials for acid sulfate soils

In Queensland, the following guidelines should be used for acid sulfate soil investigations, risk assessments and management.

Sampling guidelines

The latest Queensland sampling guidelines are the National acid sulfate soil sampling and identification methods manual (PDF, 3.55MB). These have superseded the 1998 Queensland Sampling Guidelines.

Laboratory methods guidelines

For advice on acid sulfate soils laboratory methods, refer to the National acid sulfate soils identification and laboratory methods manual (PDF, 2.83MB), Australian Standard AS4969 and/or the 2004 Queensland Laboratory Methods Guidelines (PDF, 1018KB). The national manual describes laboratory methods which can be used to conclusively identify the presence or absence of acid sulfate soils, to quantitatively assess the associated hazards, and includes a section on interpretation of laboratory results. The 2004 Queensland Laboratory Methods Guidelines and Australian Standard AS4969 also include the option of analysing soil using the Suspension Peroxide Oxidation Combined Acidity and Sulfate (SPOCAS) method, which can provide additional information to aid with interpretation of results. If choosing SPOCAS analysis, the methods to calculate net acidity and liming rates must be consistent with the definitions contained within the National Guidance Material.

For further advice on laboratory methods contact: soils@qld.gov.au.

Management guidelines

For procedural advice to avoid environmental harm and to assist in achieving best practice environmental management, refer to Version 5.1 of the Queensland Acid Sulfate Soil Technical Manual, Soil Management Guidelines (PDF, 5.6MB). These supersede previous versions of the Soil Management Guidelines that were released in 2002, 2014 and 2023.

Version 5 of the Soil Management Guidelines was released in December 2023 to be more consistent with the 2018 National Guidance Material and to provide clarity where there were inconsistencies. Version 5 of the guidelines included updates and additional material on neutralisation strategies, verification testing, self-neutralising soils, water quality parameters, remediation of ASS, and environmental management plans.

Version 5.1 of the guidelines was released in May 2024 to provide further clarity on requirements for trenching, acidic non-sulfidic soils, and small volume disturbances.

Dredging acid sulfate soils

For advice on dredging acid sulfate soils, refer to the Guidelines for the dredging of acid sulfate soil sediments and associated dredge spoil management (PDF, 2.84MB).

Dewatering acid sulfate soils in shallow groundwater environments

For advice on dewatering acid sulfate soils, refer to the National acid sulfate soils guidance: guidance for the dewatering of acid sulfate soils in shallow groundwater environments (PDF, 3.47MB).

Monosulfidic black oozes

For advice on monosulfidic black oozes, refer to the National acid sulfate soils guidance: overview and management of monosulfidic black ooze (MBO) accumulations in waterways and wetlands (PDF, 2.57MB).

Legislation and policy in Queensland

For information on acid sulfate soils within Queensland’s land-use planning and development context, refer to the State Planning Policy (PDF, 3.32MB) and the State Planning Policy Guidance Material (PDF, 1.29MB). For general information, see legislation and policies relating to acid sulfate soils in Queensland.