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Stakeholders can submit feedback under the 12-week public consultation on the upcoming Soil Health Law (SHL) until late October.
LATEST
– A public consultation on the SHL was launched on 1 August 2022.
– It will close on 24 October 2022.
ANALYSIS
The Commission has launched the 12-week public consultation inviting stakeholders to respond to an online questionnaire. Stakeholders can contribute to the consultation until 24 October 2022.
The aim of the consultation is to gather views of the public and relevant stakeholders to ensure that the general public interest is well reflected in the impact assessment and SHL proposal.
The questionnaire is structured in the following way:
Part 1 covers general questions on the importance of addressing soil-related issues at the EU level and policy options that will be considered in the impact assessment.
Part 2 targets stakeholders with some expertise on the subject and contains questions of a more technical nature.
The Commission is expected to consider stakeholders’ feedback in the preparation of the legislative proposal.
NEXT STEPS
The proposal will follow the “ordinary legislative procedure” under the Lisbon Treaty.
The minutes of the Expert Group on Soil Protection meetings held on 8 and 29 June 2022 are expected to be made available in the coming weeks.
The 12-week public consultation on the SHL is open until 24 October 2022.
A study to support the impact assessment of the SHL is expected to be finalised in December 2022.
The legislative proposal is expected to be presented during the second quarter of 2023 and will be subject to an impact assessment.
The Commission is expected to present the initiative as a proposal for a Directive.
Once presented, the proposal will be sent to the European Parliament and the Council for consideration.
BACKGROUND
The Soil Health Law would address transboundary impacts of soil degradation, secure equal market conditions and promote policy coherence at both EU and national levels in order to deliver on its objectives regarding climate change, biodiversity, food security and water protection. It would aim to deliver healthy soils by 2050.
The Impact Assessment for the legislative proposal is expected to address the following elements:
(i) definition of land take and Member State reports on their progress in achieving land take targets;
(ii) definition of common ranges or thresholds beyond which soils cannot be considered healthy;
(iii) measures that contribute to achieving the objective to reduce nutrient losses by at least 50%;
(iv) passports for excavated soil;
(v) coordination of soil and water management;
(vi) mandatory reporting on progress in managing soil contamination;
(vii) how to identify contaminated sites, set up an inventory and register of those sites and remediate the sites that pose a risk to human health and the environment;
(viii) soil health certificate for land transaction;
(ix) soil and soil biodiversity monitoring and reporting.
The expected legislative proposal was first announced in the EU Soil Strategy for 2030.
The European Parliament previously called for a legislative framework for soil protection in the Resolution it adopted on 28 April 2021.
KEY PLAYERS
Commission
Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries: Virginijus Sinkevičius / Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal: Frans Timmermans
Expert Group on Soil Protection
External Contractors
Trinomics, Wood, the Ecologic Institute, Ricardo Plc, Wageningen University & Research
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