Annexes to COM(2006)231 - Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection [SEC(2006)620] [SEC(2006)1165] - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2006)231 - Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection [SEC(2006)620] [SEC(2006)1165]. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2006)231  |
| date | September 22, 2006 |
In addition, action at EU level will also have an added value by contributing to the protection of the health of European citizens that can be impaired in different ways by soil degradation, for instance because of exposure to soil contaminants by direct ingestion (children in playgrounds) or indirect intake (through contaminated food or drinking water). Equally, casualties may occur in the event of landslides.
Therefore the Commission proposes establishing a targeted policy to close the gap and ensure comprehensive soil protection. In doing so, the Commission is fully conscious of the need to respect the principles of subsidiarity and of taking decisions and action at the most appropriate level. Soil is a prime example of the need to think global and act local.
4. ACTIONS AND MEANS
The strategy proposed by the Commission is built around four key pillars:
5. framework legislation with protection and sustainable use of soil as its principal aim;
6. integration of soil protection in the formulation and implementation of national and Community policies;
7. closing the current recognised knowledge gap in certain areas of soil protection through research supported by Community and national research programmes;
8. increasing public awareness of the need to protect soil.
4.1. Legislative proposal
Having examined different options, the Commission proposes a Framework Directive as the best means of ensuring a comprehensive approach to soil protection whilst fully respecting subsidiarity. Member States will be required to take specific measures to address soil threats, but the Directive will leave to them ample freedom on how to implement this requirement. This means that risk acceptability, the level of ambition regarding the targets to be achieved and the choice of measures to reach those targets are left to Member States.
This recognises that certain threats, such as erosion, organic matter decline, compaction, salinisation and landslides[9], occur in specific risk areas which must be identified. For contamination and sealing, a national or regional approach is more appropriate. The proposal sets up a framework for adopting, at the appropriate geographical and administrative level, plans to address the threats where they occur.
4.1.1. Erosion, organic matter decline, salinisation, compaction and landslides
Erosion, organic matter decline, salinisation, compaction and landslides are addressed taking the following approach:
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The proposed Directive will require Member States to identify risk areas on the basis of common elements to be taken into account, set risk reduction targets for those areas and establish programmes of measures to achieve them. For identifying risk areas, the Commission encourages Member States to use existing monitoring schemes. Over time a more harmonised monitoring approach and methodology may be developed, exploiting ongoing work of the European Soil Bureau Network on harmonisation of methodologies. Risk acceptability and measures will vary in response to the severity of the degradation processes, local conditions and socio-economic considerations.
Programmes can build on measures already implemented in national and Community contexts, such as cross-compliance and rural development under the CAP, codes of good agricultural practice and action programmes under the Nitrates Directive, future measures under the river basin management plans for the Water Framework Directive, flood risk management plans, national forest programmes and sustainable forestry practices and forest fire prevention measures. Concerning measures for combating the decline in soil organic matter, not all types of organic matter have the potential to address this threat. Stable organic matter is present in compost and manure and, to a much lesser extent, in sewage sludge and animal slurry, and it is this stable fraction which contributes to the humus pool in the soil, thereby improving soil properties.
Member States will be free to combine approaches to combat concurrent threats. This will be particularly beneficial for Member States addressing desertification under the UNCCD and will avoid duplication of effort.
4.1.2. Contamination
With respect to management of contamination, an approach based on the following approach is envisaged:
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On the basis of a common definition of contaminated sites (i.e. sites which pose significant risk to human health and the environment), its application by the Member States, and a common list of potentially polluting activities, Member States will be required to identify the contaminated sites on their territory and establish a national remediation strategy. This strategy will be based on sound and transparent prioritisation of the sites to be remediated, aiming at reducing soil contamination and the risk caused by it and including a mechanism to fund the remediation of orphan sites. This is complemented by the obligation for a seller or a prospective buyer to provide to the administration and to the other party in the transaction a soil status report for sites where a potentially contaminating activity has taken or is taking place. The Directive also addresses prevention of contamination via a requirement to limit the introduction of dangerous substances into the soil.
4.1.3. Sealing
In order to achieve a more rational use of soil, Member States will be required to take appropriate measures to limit sealing by rehabilitating brownfield sites and to mitigate its effects by using construction techniques that allow maintaining as many soil functions as possible.
4.1.4. Other threats
The Directive does not cover soil biodiversity directly. Biodiversity will generally benefit from the action proposed on other threats. This will contribute to achieving the objective of halting the decline of biodiversity by 2010.
4.2. Research
Further research is necessary to close the gaps in knowledge about soil and strengthen the foundation for policies. The Commission intends to follow the recommendations from the stakeholder consultation, on the priority clusters:
- processes underlying soil functions (e.g. soil’s role in global CO2 accounting and in the protection of biodiversity),
- spatial and temporal changes in soil processes,
- ecological, economic and social drivers of soil threats,
- factors influencing soil eco-services, and
- operational procedures and technologies for soil protection and restoration.
The proposal for the Seventh Framework Programme (2007-2013) covers research into soil functions as part of its “Environment” and “Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology” priority areas.
4.2.1. Biodiversity
Not enough is known about soil biodiversity. This will also be addressed in the Seventh Framework Programme with a view to gaining a better understanding of the function of biodiversity as an environmental service. This knowledge-building process will also be supported by ongoing initiatives under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the Forest Focus Programme.
4.3. Integration
Community policies on, inter alia , agriculture, regional development, transport and research have a significant impact on soil. Soil protection will need to be further integrated in other policy areas, if the goals of this strategy are to be met.
The Commission envisages taking some actions described under section 6.
4.4. Awareness-raising
There is little public awareness of the importance of soil protection. Measures to improve knowledge and exchange information and best practices are needed to fill this gap. The Commission will foster initiatives such as:
- wide distribution of the Soil Atlas of Europe, and maintenance of the soil web site http://eusoils.jrc.it for open access to policy relevant soil information in Europe,
- continuation of the European Summer School on Soil Survey to provide specific training to young researchers,
- encouragement of initiatives such as the European Manifesto on Earth Heritage and Geodiversity,
- integration of soil knowledge and protection aspects in Community-funded information and training events,
- soil management awards, where appropriate,
- initiatives within the UNCCD, particularly in 2006, International Year of Deserts and Desertification.
5. EXPECTED IMPACT AND RESULTS
This strategy has been subjected to an impact assessment and extensive stakeholder consultation. Various options and related measures have been analysed as part of this work, including no binding action, a flexible non-prescriptive EU legal framework, and laws on the different threats to soil, setting targets and means at EU level.
The recommendations by stakeholders, the current situation with soil protection in the EU, including policies and measures in place in a minority of Member States, allied to the total cost to society of soil degradation have convinced the Commission that a flexible Framework Directive would be the most appropriate way of addressing soil protection.
The impact assessment, carried out in accordance with the Commission’s guidelines and on the basis of available data, shows that soil degradation could cost up to €38 billion a year.
The costs directly derived from the proposed Directive, which are mainly stemming from the obligations to carry out the identification of risk areas and the inventory of contaminated sites, are estimated to be up to €290 million a year for EU-25 in the first five years and up to €240 in the following 20 years. These costs will drop to less than €2 million per year thereafter and will mainly be borne by public administrations.
The benefits deriving from these obligations will come from a better knowledge of the extent and location of the soil threats which will allow adopting more targeted and efficient measures. These benefits could not be quantified as they will depend on the actual use that will be made of this improved knowledge.
The Directive allows Member States to set their own levels of ambition on targets and to select the measures under the programmes and remediation strategies which they consider most appropriate and most cost-effective. Therefore, the costs and benefits will depend on this level of ambition and will also vary according to the extent to which Member States make use of the possibilities offered by existing legislation, such as cross-compliance within the CAP, to contribute to soil protection.
Different scenarios of measures can be envisaged, based on different levels of ambition. Common to all scenarios is that additional costs would only start to apply from around 2015 onwards and may be borne either by the land users and the polluter and/or by the public administration, depending on the decisions ultimately taken by Member States. The benefits would be shared mainly by society at large and a number of economic operators.
For specific scenarios of medium to high levels of ambition, the social, economic and environmental impact of possible measures that could be adopted by Member States have been analysed in an annex to the impact assessment.
In assessing the possible additional costs, in particular of the scenario envisaged, it has to be borne in mind that estimated benefits clearly outweigh costs even more so as many environmental benefits from soil services, notably preserving biodiversity and ensuring nutrient and gas cycles, could not be included.
Moreover the Directive marks the first policy approach targeted at soil protection at EU level and is designed to protect the soil as an important and essentially non-renewable resource of the EU, totalling approximately 400 million hectares.
6. NEXT STEPS
To ensure that the action outlined above is put into practice, the Commission will:
- develop calls for research projects to support policymaking in line with the objectives of this strategy and incorporate in decision-making any new knowledge acquired on soil biodiversity from 2006 onwards,
- review the Sewage Sludge Directive in 2007, as also announced in the Thematic Strategy on Waste Prevention and Recycling[10], to ensure that maximum benefit is reaped from the reintroduction of nutrients while further limiting the release of dangerous substances into the soil,
- review the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive[11] in 2007 to strengthen its soil protection and contamination prevention aspects by exploring, in particular, harmonisation of the basic obligation to avoid any pollution risk, returning the site of IPPC installations to a “satisfactory state”, and periodically monitoring soil on the site,
- monitor closely whether the need to protect soil is adequately taken into account in the Rural Development Plans for 2007-2013, and thereafter,
- check the contribution made to soil protection by the minimum requirements for good agricultural and environmental condition defined by Member States in accordance with Article 5 and Annex IV of Regulation 1782/2003,
- initiate activities to develop best practices to mitigate negative effects of sealing on soil functions in 2007,
- prepare a Common Implementation Strategy for the Framework Directive and the other pillars of the strategy, in partnership with Member States, while maintaining an open dialogue with experts who participated in the stakeholder consultation. This will allow initiating activities to support Member States in identifying and developing the most cost-effective measures to achieve the objectives of the strategy. This will also allow better cooperation between Member States in reaching comparable approaches to soil protection,
- build a robust approach to address the interaction between soil protection and climate change from the viewpoints of research, economy and rural development so that policies in this areas are mutually supportive,
- assess possible synergies between measures aiming at protection and sustainable use of soil and measures incorporated in river basin management plans under the Water Framework Directive in 2009,
- assess possible synergies between measures aiming at protection and sustainable use of soil and measures aiming at the protection of coastal waters, including those incorporated in the Thematic Strategy on the Protection and Conservation of the Marine Environment[12],
- ensure integration of soil protection aspects in product policy to prevent contamination of soil,
- ensure that the actions of this strategy and the initiatives taken under the UNCCD, the UNCBD, the Kyoto Protocol and the Alpine Convention are mutually supportive, consistent and complementary.
This strategy contains the measures deemed appropriate at this stage at EU level. Progress towards meeting the objectives of this strategy will be evaluated as part of the review of the Sixth EAP, as appropriate.
[1] Decision No 1600/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2002 laying down the Sixth Community Environment Action Programme (OJ L 242, 10.9.2002, p. 1).
[2] COM(2002)179.
[3] EEA (European Environment Agency), 1995: Chapter 7 Soil in Europe’s Environment the Dobris assessment - covers geographical Europe.
[4] See the impact assessment.
[5] http://terrestrial.eionet.eu.int/CLC2000/docs/publications/corinescreen.pdf.
[6] Directive 2004/35/EC (OJ L 143, 30.4.2004, p. 56).
[7] See: http://ec.europa.eu/comm/environment/climat/pdf/finalreport_agricsoils.pdf.
[8] See the impact assessment for supporting evidence.
[9] Flooding has been addressed in a separate proposal for a Directive on the assessment and management of floods (COM(2006)15).
[10] COM(2005)666.
[11] Directive 96/61/EC (OJ L 257, 10.10.1996, p. 26).
[12] COM(2005)504.