The criticisms are contained in the council's submission to the proposal, which was endorsed by councillors at a council meeting in Dunedin yesterday.
In a report to the council, ORC policy and resource planning director Fraser McRae said New Zealand had a legacy of soil contamination from past use of chemicals in industry, agriculture and horticulture, and the Ministry for the Environment believed the risks posed by contaminants in soil had been underestimated or over-evaluated.
This had led to expensive disputes concerning liability at the local government level, he said.
The problem had not been adequately addressed when land, potentially affected by contaminants in soil, was developed or subdivided for residential use.
The ministry's proposed national environmental standard for assessing and managing contaminants in soil aimed to ensure land affected by contaminants in the soil was appropriately identified and assessed at the time of being developed and, if necessary, remedied, or the contaminants contained to make the land safe for human use.
The council agreed in principle with the intent of the proposal.
Its submission stated the proposal set policy which cut through many regulatory and institutional complexities.
However, it did not address them.
"The identification of the issue seems to be embedded in local level government functions.
"The ORC considers that the fundamental issues have not been adequately explored in this proposal, leading to a narrowed scope, which has limited the options considered to address management of contaminated soils and sites."
The submission was adopted by the council yesterday and it would be forwarded to the Ministry for the Environment by April 19.
Other matters arising at the Otago Regional Council meeting. -The council adopted the proposed plan change (1c), water allocation and use, to the regional plan.
The plan change improves the overall effectiveness of how limited water resources are managed, enabling the community to benefit from future opportunities to use water.
Councillors agreed the names of candidates in this year's local body elections should be presented in alphabetical order.
The election will be held on October 9.
The council thanked New Zealand Police Inspector Dave Campbell for his services to the regional transport committee.
He has resigned from the committee because of increasing work commitments.
