CL:AIRE is a UK charity committed to providing a valuable service for all those involved in sustainable land reuse.
We develop training resources, disseminate information and act as a credible resource for all stakeholders, ensuring we remain at the cutting-edge of best practice and innovation.

 

Improving efficiency & raising standards
Improving efficiency & raising standards
Definition of Waste Code of Practice (DoWCoP), National Quality Mark Scheme for Land Affected by Contamination (NQMS), Asbestos in Soil, SuRF...
Supporting our Members
Supporting our Members
Find out about the benefits of becoming a CL:AIRE Principal or Supporter Member:- Member discounts, Networking, Working Groups, ...
Sharing Knowledge & Developing People
Sharing Knowledge & Developing People
Water and Land Library ( WALL), Continuing Professional development through Training and workshops...
CL:AIRE Membership
CL:AIRE works with its Members to raise awareness and pursue shared objectives in land, water and environmental management by collecting strategic industry information and developing industry initiatives that improve efficiency and save money.
Gas Protection Verification Scheme (GPVS)
The GPVS seeks to raise standards in membrane inspection, verification and reporting and provide confidence that risks associated with ground gases have been adequately managed.
Definition of Waste Code of Practice
The Definition of Waste Code of Practice (DoWCoP) provides a clear, consistent and efficient process which enables the reuse of excavated materials on-site or their movement between sites.

Find out more...Register of materials...
Make a declaration...
NQMS for Land Contamination Management
The National Quality Mark Scheme for Land Contamination Management (NQMS) is developed by the National Brownfield Forum to provide visible identification of documents that have been checked for quality.

The CLEA software version 1.06 is a computer version of the CLEA model.

It replaces CLEA software version 1.05 and 1.04 (which in turn replaced CLEA software version 1.03 beta, the evaluation version of this software). It also contains additional approaches, which may be useful for site-specific risk assessment that are not described within the CLEA report but are covered in some detail within the handbook we have written to accompany the software. The handbook also provides a detailed user guide explaining how to operate all of the functions of the software.

Overview

You can use the CLEA software to:
  • derive generic soil assessment criteria using generic assumptions about the characteristics of contaminants and people likely to be present on site;
  • derive site-specific soil assessment criteria by entering your own data on the characteristics of contaminants and people likely to be present on site and/or using a non-generic approach;
  • assess whether a measured concentration in soil (and where available, measured site concentrations for contaminants within soil air, ambient and indoor air, and fruits and vegetables) would present a potential risk to human health for a particular set of circumstances;
  • derive exposure factors for dioxins, furans and dioxin-like PCBs for use in deriving site-specific soil assessment criteria using our dioxins site-specific worksheets.

The handbook explains how you can do all of these things.

What are the main changes to the software?

Changes to the software between versions 1.04 and 1.06 are:

  • we have added the chemical data that we have used in deriving Soil Guideline Values for arsenic, cadmium, mercury (elemental, inorganic and methyl), nickel, selenium, benzene,  ethylbenzene, phenol, toluene, xylene (o-, m- and p-) and dioxins (29 congeners);
  • we have revised the protection scheme in the software to allow the extraction of dioxin, furans and dioxin-like PCBs exposure factor data for use in calculating assessment criteria using the dioxins site-specific worksheets;
  • we have added a residential and an allotment lifetime exposure land use by adding land use and receptor data used in the derivation of the cadmium SGV;
  • we have replaced the bioaccessibility factor with the relative bioavailability factor, and the description in the software and handbook amended accordingly;
  • we have corrected an error in the calculation of Exposure Duration which was one year less than it should have been for the following scenarios; ending age class equals 17 and starting age class equals 16 or less or ending age class equals 18 and starting age class equals 16 or less. This would have a minor effect on assessment criteria calculated using the CLEA software v1.04; and
  • we have updated the CLEA software handbook to reflect and explain the changes to the software.

You need to make sure that you are familiar with the framework reports before you use the CLEA software. You should refer to the handbook that we have written to go with the software for additional information.

What are the PC requirements for the software?

The CLEA software uses Microsoft ® Excel. We developed the spreadsheet using Microsoft ® Excel 2003 SP1. We cannot guarantee compatibility with other versions of Microsoft ® Excel. The system requirements for Microsoft ® Excel 2003 are:

Computer and processor - Personal computer with an Intel Pentium 233-Mhz or faster processor (Pentium III recommended)
 
Memory - 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or greater
 
Hard disk - 150 MB of available hard-disk space; optional installation files cache (recommended) requires an additional 200 MB of available hard-disk space
 
Drive - CD-ROM or DVD drive
 
Display - Super VGA (800 x 600) or higher-resolution monitor
 
Operating system - Microsoft Windows 2000 with Service Pack 3 (SP3), Windows XP or later

Additional recommended requirements for CLEA Software Version 1.03 beta are:

Hard disk - 10 MB of available hard-disk space (unzipped file size is 3MB)
 
Display - Super VGA (1280 x 768) or higher resolution is recommended

  1. Three weeks to go until Contamination & Land Remediation Expo!

     August 2026
    We’re excited to be at Contamination & Land Remediation (CLR) Expo in just three weeks, returning to the NEC Birmingham on 16–17 September. Join us for two high-impact days of knowledge...
  2. RemTech Europe and Sustainathon programmes now live

    RemTech Europe and Sustainathon programmes now live

     August 2026
    RemTech Europe, International Conference and Exhibition on land and water remediation markets and technologies is taking place between 14-18 September 2026 and has now published its programme. The first two...
  3. MHCLG publishes new NPPF following consultation

    MHCLG publishes new NPPF following consultation

     August 2026
    The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published its new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). It sets out the government's policies for plan-making and for making decisions...
  4. National Brownfield Forum July 2026 meeting notes published

    National Brownfield Forum July 2026 meeting notes published

     August 2026
    The National Brownfield Forum July 2026 meeting notes have now been published and are on the dedicated web page National Brownfield Forum. The notes can be downloaded directly here. 
  5. MHCLG updates Planning Practice Guidance for new Defra Biodiversity Net Gain exemptions

    MHCLG updates Planning Practice Guidance for new Defra Biodiversity Net Gain exemptions

     August 2026
    The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has updated its Planning Practice Guidance (PPG) on Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) exemptions which came into force for planning applications made...
  6. CL:AIRE publishes new training brochure

    CL:AIRE publishes new training brochure

     August 2026
    CL:AIRE is delighted to publish its new training brochure featuring all its courses that it delivers through the year. It is available to download or print here. If there are any...
  7. SuRF International June  2026 meeting notes published

    SuRF International June 2026 meeting notes published

     August 2026
    SuRF International/International Sustainable Remediation Alliance met in June 2026. The meeting notes have now been published and are available to download here.
  8. European Food Safety Authority reduces the safe level of trifluoroacetic acid in the diet

    European Food Safety Authority reduces the safe level of trifluoroacetic acid in the diet

     July 2026
    The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has reduced the safe level of trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) in the diet based on new scientific evidence. TFA is a chemical that can form...
  9. CL:AIRE publishes PFAS Site Profiles

    CL:AIRE publishes PFAS Site Profiles

     July 2026
    CL:AIRE is excited to announce the publication of 13 PFAS Site Profiles that were originally developed by Jacobs as part of the Environment Agency PFAS Risk Screening Project. The profiles...
  10. Join us at the UK's leading event for the geoenvironmental sector - CLR Expo

     July 2026
    We're excited to be attending Contamination & Land Remediation (CLR) Expo, returning to the NEC Birmingham on 16-17 September 2026. Join us with a free ticket for two high-impact days...
  11. CL:AIRE publishes new Technical Bulletin TB23 and a PFAS worksheet tool

    CL:AIRE publishes new Technical Bulletin TB23 and a PFAS worksheet tool

     July 2026
    CL:AIRE is pleased to announce the publication of Technical Bulletin TB23: Worksheet tool for new EU Environmental Quality Standard and Groundwater Standards for PFAS (EU Directive 2026/805). TB23 describes a...
  12. HM Treasury consults on reforming Land Remediation Relief

    HM Treasury consults on reforming Land Remediation Relief

     July 2026
    The government is consulting on potential reforms to make Land Remediation Relief more accessible, better targeted, and more closely aligned with the practical realities of brownfield development. Land Remediation Relief is...
  13. ESS Expo 2026 visitor registration opens

     June 2026
    The Environmental Services & Solutions Expo (ESS Expo), the UK’s largest environmental event, has announced that visitor registration is now open for its 2026 edition, taking place 16-17 September at...
  14. GPVS application window open until 30 September 2026

    GPVS application window open until 30 September 2026

     June 2026
    The next Gas Protection Verification Accreditation Scheme (GPVS) application window opened on 1 August and closes 30 September 2026. The application window is open to Technician Grade and Specialist Grade...
  15. Environment Agency publishes voluntary remediation advice service for contaminated land and groundwater

    Environment Agency publishes voluntary remediation advice service for contaminated land and groundwater

     June 2026
    The Environment Agency has produced guidance on its new voluntary remediation advice service for those that wish to receive more detailed site-specific regulatory advice where land contamination has impact on...
  16. NORAC and JIWG publishes an overview of new technical guidance on asbestos air monitoring on brownfield remediation sites

     June 2026
    National Organisation of Asbestos Consultants (NORAC) and Joint Industry Working Group Asbestos in Soil and Construction & Demolition Materials (JIWG) has published a new Technical Guidance Series document providing an...
  17. Contamination & Land Remediation Expo is coming to the NEC Birmingham on 16-17 September

    Contamination & Land Remediation Expo is coming to the NEC Birmingham on 16-17 September

     May 2026
    Part of the Environmental Services & Solutions Expo (ESS Expo), the Contamination & Land Remediation Expo (CLR Expo) will bring together 2,800+ professionals from across the contamination, remediation, and geoenvironmental...
  18. CL:AIRE TRG Annual Report 2025 and new ECP

     May 2026
    CL:AIRE has now published the 2025 Technology and Research Group (TRG) Annual Report and it is available to download. The TRG is also pleased to welcome a new Early Career...
  19. SURRI publishes useful series of podcasts about preparing EU project proposals

    SURRI publishes useful series of podcasts about preparing EU project proposals

     May 2026
    The European Project SURRI (Sustainable Remediation of Radionuclide Impacts on Land and Critical Materials Recovery) has published a series of podcasts to understand more about EU project proposal building. They...
  20. ISO draft international standard on determination of inorganic arsenic species in soils has been published for comment

    ISO draft international standard on determination of inorganic arsenic species in soils has been published for comment

     May 2026
    ISO DIS 25251 Soil Quality - Determination of inorganic arsenic species in soils and soil-like materials has been published for comment. Comments should be submitted to Joanna Macnamara by 10 July 2026.
  21. POST publishes research briefing on Nature-based flood and drought resilience

    POST publishes research briefing on Nature-based flood and drought resilience

     May 2026
    The Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) has published a research briefing on Nature-based flood and drought resilience. The POSTnote outlines the evidence, challenges and benefits for implementing catchment scale...