Europe
Soil Framework Directive
Negotiations are currently underway for the development of an EU Soil Framework Directive (SFD), aimed at ensuring the protection and sustainable use of soil, preventing soil degradation and restoring degraded soil. The introduction of the SFD follows the publication in September 2006 of the EU Commission's Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection, following proposals set out in the 6th Environmental Action Programme in 2002.
The SFD would require Member States to:
- Assess the impacts of policies likely to reduce soil degradation
- Take precautionary measures to protect soil functions
- Take appropriate measures to limit soil sealing - the permanent covering of the soil surface with an impermeable material
- Identify risks for soil erosion, loss of soil organic matter, compaction, salinisation and landslides and draw up a programme of measures to address these risks
- Take appropriate action to prevent soil contamination
- Establish a national inventory of contaminated sites
- Identify and remediate all contaminated sites
- Ensure Soil Status Reports are produced when land is sold
- Raise awareness of the importance of soils.
Defra, the Scottish Government and the Welsh Assembly Government issued a public consultation on the SFD in October 2007. View our response to the proposals
here.
The draft Directive was blocked by five Member States, including the UK, in December 2007 because it was seen to be too prescriptive and would not allow Member States to retain existing measures to deal with contaminated land. Following a number of significant re-drafts, agreement has still not been reached.
Read more about this in our July edition of the Briefing
Environmental Liability Directive
The Environmental Liability Directive, which was due to be implemented in the UK by 30 April 2007, addresses the way in which liability is allocated following major pollution incidents. It aims to ensure that the polluter, rather than the taxpayer, bears the cost of remediation and provides further incentive for the prevention of contamination by operators of potentially polluting activities.
The Directive was transposed in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in 2009.
Other EU Policy
There are also a number of existing EU Directives which relate to contaminated land issues.
The Waste Framework Directive addresses the preventing pollution from waste and includes in the list of categories of waste any contaminated materials, substances or products resulting from remedial action with respect to land as waste.
Under the Water Framework Directive Member States are required to develop a programme of measures to achieve water quality targets by 2015. Historic land contamination is among the long-term causes of water contamination and the WFD will therefore encourage increased remediation of contaminated sites, through existing UK legislation.
The new Groundwater Daughter Directive (a daughter Directive to the Water Framework Directive) aims to prevent or limit pollutants into groundwater, for example from historical contamination of land, and will also build on existing UK measures.