The Environment Agency will create a committee in December to review how best to address soil contamination in the wake of a rapid rise in the number of cases of soil pollution reported in the past few years, agency chief Yoriko Kawaguchi said Friday.

The decision came amid a rise in the number of sites found to be polluted with chemicals. It is hoped the panel's work will lead to a better system for dealing with soil contamination.

Nearly 40 percent, or 111, of 292 sites found to be polluted from 1991 to 1998, were discovered in 1998, the agency said. Officials attributed the meteoric rise to the increasing tendency of companies to perform soil surveys before redeveloping land, such as land that formerly hosted factories or research facilities.

The committee will comprise legal and technical experts, as well as representatives from local governments in charge of dealing with soil pollution. It will debate survey methods, the environmental risks of soil pollution and how to manage information on polluted sites.

The committee will first look at the 25 chemicals and heavy metals for which there are environmental standards for groundwater and possibly consider setting environmental standards for soil, agency officials said.

The review committee will hold its first meeting in mid December.