Considerations on COM(2006)232 - Framework for the protection of soil - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2006)232 - Framework for the protection of soil. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2006)232  |
| date | September 22, 2006 |
(2) Soil degradation or soil improvements have a major impact on other areas of Community interest, such as surface water and groundwater protection, human health, climate change, protection of nature and biodiversity, and food safety.
(3) Soil is a natural resource of common interest which is under increasing environmental pressure and is to be protected from degradation in its own right. 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[5] includes the objective of protecting natural resources and promoting a sustainable use of soil.
(4) The Communication of the Commission to the European Parliament and the Council “Towards a Thematic Strategy on Soil Protection”[6] identifies the main eight soil degradation processes to which soils in the EU are confronted. These are erosion, organic matter decline, contamination, salinisation, compaction, soil biodiversity loss, sealing, landslides and flooding. The current scientific knowledge on soil biodiversity and its behaviour is too limited to allow for specific provisions in this Directive aiming at its protection. The prevention and mitigation of the effects of floods have been addressed by the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council on the assessment and management of floods[7].
(5) Soil variability is very high in the Community and enormous differences exist in its structural, physical, chemical and biological state both within individual profiles and between soils. These diverse conditions and needs in the Community should be taken into account as they require different specific solutions for the identification of areas at risk, definition of targets and execution of appropriate measures to ensure protection of soil.
(6) Community legislation, for instance in the fields of waste, chemicals, industrial pollution prevention and control, climate change, water, and agriculture and rural development, includes some provisions on soil protection, but these are neither designed nor sufficient to protect all soils against all degradation processes. Hence there is a need for a coherent and effective legislative framework, providing for common principles and objectives aiming at protection and sustainable use of soil in the Community.
(7) Soil should be used in a sustainable manner which preserves its capacity to deliver ecological, economic and social services, while maintaining its functions so that future generations can meet their needs.
(8) The aim of this Directive is to ensure the protection of soil, based on the principles of preservation of soil functions, prevention of soil degradation, mitigation of its effects, restoration of degraded soils and integration into other sectoral policies by establishing a common framework and actions.
(9) A common framework is needed in order to articulate the efforts of Member States to improve the protection of soils and its sustainable use, to control the transboundary soil degradation effects, to protect aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems, and to preclude distortion of competition between economic operators.
(10) Since the objectives of the action to be taken, namely to establish a common framework for the protection of soil, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States and can therefore be better achieved at Community level by reason of the scale of the problem and its implications in respect of other Community legislation on nature protection, water protection, food safety, climate change, agriculture and areas of common interest, such as human health protection, the Community may therefore adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty. In accordance with the principle of proportionality, as set out in that Article, this Directive does not go beyond what is necessary in order to achieve that objective.
(11) As some sectoral policies may either exacerbate or mitigate soil degradation processes, further integration of soil protection aspects into such policies is necessary. This Directive should make provision for Member States to identify and assess the impact of these policies on the prevention of soil degradation processes and the protection of soil functions.
(12) In contrast to air and water, soil is mainly privately owned in the Community. Nevertheless it is a natural resource of common interest that has to be protected for future generations. In the public interest, therefore, land users should be required to take precautionary measures when their use of the soil can be expected to significantly hamper soil functions.
(13) Sealing is becoming significantly more intense in the Community as a result of urban sprawl and increasing demand for land from many sectors of the economy, and this calls for a more sustainable use of soil. Appropriate measures are needed to limit soil sealing, for instance by rehabilitating brownfield sites, thus reducing the depletion of greenfield sites. Where sealing does occur Member States should provide for construction and drainage techniques that would allow as many soil functions as possible to be preserved.
(14) A targeted and efficient soil protection policy should be based on the knowledge of where degradation is occurring. It is recognised that certain degradation processes, such as erosion, organic matter decline, compaction, salinisation and landslides, occur only in specific areas which are more at risk of such processes. This requires the identification of such risk areas.
(15) To ensure a coherent and comparable approach in the different Member States, identification of risk areas for erosion, organic matter decline, compaction, salinisation and landslides should be based on a common methodology which includes elements known to be driving forces for the various degradation processes.
(16) In the risk areas identified, measures should be taken to prevent further soil degradation by reducing the risk of it occurring and restoring degraded soils in order to preserve soil functions.
(17) Action is to be taken under the responsibility of Member States, at the most appropriate level, based on the establishment of risk reduction targets and programmes of measures to reach those targets.
(18) Such programmes of measures should take into account the social and economic impact of the measures envisaged; they should be reviewed periodically and may build on obligations, plans and programmes already set up under Community legislation or international agreements.
(19) This Directive should contribute to halting desertification, which results from concurrent degradation processes, and soil biodiversity loss, and enhance cooperation in the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the Convention on Biological Diversity to which the Community is a party, and will enhance the implementation of these international environmental agreements.
(20) In compliance with the prevention principle as laid down in Article 174 of the EC Treaty, this Directive should contribute to the prevention and reduction of the introduction of dangerous substances into soil to avoid soil contamination and to preserve soil functions.
(21) Earlier industrialisation and poor or inappropriate management practices have left a legacy of hundreds of thousands of contaminated sites in the Community which call for a common strategy to manage historical contamination of soil in order to prevent and mitigate harmful effects on human health and the environment.
(22) In order to successfully prevent and limit risk to human health and the environment stemming from soil contamination, Member States should identify the sites which according to their assessment are posing a significant risk in this regard. Given the number of sites which are likely to be contaminated, their identification requires a systematic step-by-step approach. To monitor progress on the identification of the contaminated sites a timetable is needed.
(23) To support the identification of contaminated sites and to secure a common approach, it is necessary to establish a common list of activities which can have a significant potential to cause soil contamination. This common list of potentially soil polluting activities may be complemented by other more comprehensive lists adopted at national level.
(24) The identification of contaminated sites should be reflected in a national inventory of contaminated sites to be updated regularly and made available for the public to consult. Previous and current efforts by Member States to identify contaminated sites should be taken into account.
(25) In order to assist in the rapid identification of contaminated sites, the owner of a site where, according to official records such as national registers or cadastres, a soil-polluting activity has taken or is taking place, or the prospective buyer should, prior to completing the land transaction, provide relevant information on the status of the soil to the competent authority and to the other party in the transaction. The provision of such information at the time when a land transaction is being planned, will help to speed up the completion of the inventory of contaminated sites. It will also make the prospective buyer aware of the state of the soil and enable him to make an informed choice.
(26) Taking into account the polluter pays principle, Member States should ensure that action is taken to remediate the contaminated sites identified within their national territory.
(27) A National Remediation Strategy should be established, in particular for the purposes of setting remediation targets and the order of priority in which sites should be remediated.
(28) In those contaminated sites where the polluter cannot be found, cannot be held liable for the pollution under national or Community legislation or cannot be made to bear the costs of remediation, also known as orphan sites, responsibility for reducing risk to human health and the environment should fall on the Member States. For those purposes, Member States should put in place specific funding mechanisms to ensure a durable financial source for the remediation of such sites.
(29) Directive 2004/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004 on environmental liability with regard to the prevention and remedying of environmental damage[8] establishes that, for orphan sites, remedial action may be taken by the competent authority as a last resort. That Directive should therefore be amended in order to align it with the remediation obligations laid down in this Directive.
(30) There is little public awareness of the importance of soil protection, and it is therefore necessary to introduce measures to improve knowledge, exchange of information and best practices.
(31) The success of this Directive relies on close cooperation and coherent action at Community, Member State and local level as well as on information, consultation and involvement of the public, pursuant to Community obligations under the UNECE Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters. Thus, for the preparation, modification and review of the programmes of measures on risk areas and the National Remediation Strategies, it is appropriate to provide for the application of Directive 2003/35/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 May 2003 providing for public participation in respect of the drawing up of certain plans and programmes relating to the environment and amending with regard to public participation and access to justice Council Directives 85/337/EEC and 96/61/EC[9].
(32) It is recognised that different risk assessment methodologies for contaminated sites are currently being applied in Member States. In order to move towards a common approach ensuring neutral conditions of competition and a coherent soil protection regime, a thorough exchange of information is needed to establish the suitability of harmonising some of the elements of risk assessment as well as to further develop and improve the methodologies on eco-toxicological risk assessment.
(33) Provision should be made to allow the rapid adaptation of methods of identification of risk areas in Member States including regularly reviewing the common elements therein.
(34) Provisions should be adopted as regards the data exchange formats and data quality criteria and these would need to be consistent with the establishment of any infrastructure for spatial information in the Community.
(35) This Directive respects the fundamental rights and observes the principles recognised in particular by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. In particular, this seeks to promote the integration into Community policies of a high level of environmental protection in accordance with the principle of sustainable development as laid down in Article 37 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
(36) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission[10].