Activities of Ljudmila NOVAK related to 2023/0232(COD)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on Soil Monitoring and Resilience (Soil Monitoring Law)
Amendments (36)
Amendment 127 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) Soil is a vital, limited, non- renewable and irreplaceable resource that is an essential factor in production and crucial for the economy, the environment and the society.
Amendment 132 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 12
Recital 12
(12) The Soil Strategy for 2030 announced that the Commission would table a legislative proposal on soil health to enable the objectives of the Soil Strategy and to achieve good soil health across the EU by 2050. The Commission would also propose intermediate targets. In its resolution of 28 April 2021 on soil protection42, the European Parliament emphasised the importance of protecting soil and promoting healthy soils in the Union, bearing in mind that the degradation continues, despite the limited and uneven action being taken in some Member States. The European Parliament called on the Commission to design a Union wide common legal framework, with full respect for the subsidiarity principle, for the protection and sustainable use of soil, addressing all major soil threats. _________________ 42 European Parliament resolution of 28 April 2021 on soil protection (2021/2548(RSP)).
Amendment 148 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 23
Recital 23
(23) The long-term objective of the Directive is to achieve healthy soils by 2050. As an intermediate step, in light of the limited knowledge about the condition of soils and about the effectiveness and costs of the measures to regenerate their health, the directive takes a staged approach. In the first stage the focus will be on setting up the soil monitoring framework and assessing the situation of soils throughout the EU. It also includes requirements to lay down measures to manage soils sustainably and regenerate unhealthy soils once their condition is established, but without imposing an obligation to achieve healthy soils by 2050 neither intermediate targets. This proportionate approach will allow sustainable soil management and regeneration of unhealthy soils to be well prepared, incentivised and set in motion. In a second stage, as soon as the results of the first assessment of soils and trends analysis are available, the Commission will take stock of the progress towards the 2050 objective and the experience thereof, and will propose a review of the directive if necessary, including setting intermediate targets and quantitative targets for soil health improvement and limiting soil degradation, land take and soil sealing, to accelerate progress towards 2050.
Amendment 153 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) In order to ensure an appropriate governance on soils, Member States should be required to appoint a competent authority for each soil district. Member States should be allowed to appoint any additional competent authority at appropriate level including at national or regional level. In order to keep costs under control, Member States should primarily appoint authorities that are already set up (working). One authority may be responsible for several areas, which can improve consistency in the implementation of the Directive and reduce costs through synergies and economies of scale.
Amendment 162 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 28
Recital 28
(28) In order to create incentives, Member States should set up mechanisms to recognize the efforts of landowners and land managers to maintain the soil in healthy condition, including in the form of optional soil health certification complementary to the Union regulatory framework for carbon removals, and supporting the implementation of the renewable energy sustainability criteria set out in article 29 of Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council50. The Commission should facilitate soil health certification by inter alia exchanging information and promoting best practices, raising awareness and assessing feasibility of developing recognition of certification schemes at Union level. Synergies between different certification schemes should be exploited as much as possible to reduce administrative burden for those applying for relevant certifications. _________________ 50 Directive (EU) 2018/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2018 on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources (recast) (OJ L 328, 21.12.2018, p. 82).
Amendment 167 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 31
Recital 31
(31) The assessment of soil health based on the monitoring network should be accurate while at the same time keeping the costs of such monitoring at reasonable level. It is therefore appropriate to lay down criteria for sampling points that are representative of the soil condition under different soil types, climatic conditions and land use. The grid of sampling points should be determined by using geostatistical methods and be sufficiently dense to provide an estimation of the area of healthy soils, at national level, within an uncertainty of not more than 5%. This value is commonly considered to provide a statistically sound estimation and reasonable assurance that the objective has been achieved. It is extremely important that the soil monitoring methodology and framework include, in addition to the sampling point, uniform sampling criteria and a uniformly defined sampling depth.
Amendment 168 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 32
Recital 32
(32) The Commission should assist and support Member States’ monitoring of soil health by continuing to carry out and enhancing regular in-situ soil sampling and related soil measurements (LUCAS soil) as part of the Land Use/Cover Area frame statistical Survey (LUCAS) Programme. For that purpose, the LUCAS Programme shall be enhanced and upgraded to fully align it with the specific quality requirements to be met for the purpose of this Directive. In order to alleviate the burden, Member States should be allowed to take into account the soil health data surveyed under the enhanced LUCAS soil. The Member States thuswhich opt for such supported should tmake the necessary legal arrangements to ensure that the Commission can carry out such in-situ soil sampling, including on privately owned fields, with the agreement of the owners, and in compliance with applicable national or Union legislation.
Amendment 172 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 34
Recital 34
(34) Building on and upgrading the existing EU soil observatory, the Commission should establish a digital soil health data portal that should be compatible with the EU Data Strategy51 and the EU data spaces and which should be a hub providing access to soil data coming from various sources. That portal should primarily include all the data collected by the Member States and the Commission as required by this Directive. It should also be possible to integrate in the portal, on a voluntary basis, other relevant soil data collected by Member States or any other party (and in particular data resulting from projects under Horizon Europe and the Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’), provided that those data meet certain requirements as regards format and specifications. This data should be made publicly available in a format that can be used by landowners, the research community and the public. Those requirements should be specified by the Commission by way of implementing acts. _________________ 51 Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions on a European strategy for data, COM(2020)66 final.
Amendment 202 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 48 a (new)
Recital 48 a (new)
(48a) It is therefore essential that this Directive provides a framework for both substances and materials to be included in the monitoring of soil contaminants, and for the establishment of environmental quality standards and a set of measures to prevent and remediate soil contamination from known and emerging threats, including the possibility of removing toxins by planting toxin-extracting plants.
Amendment 208 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 50
Recital 50
(50) Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council69 mandates the release of public sector data in free and open formats. The overall objective is to continue the strengthening of the EU’s data economy by increasing the amount of public sector data available for re-use, ensuring fair competition and easy access to public sector information, and enhancing cross- border innovation based on data. The main principle is that government data should be open by default and design. Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council70 is aimed at guaranteeing the right of access to environmental information in the Member States in line with the Aarhus Convention. The Aarhus Convention and Directive 2003/4/EC encompass broad obligations related both to making environmental information available upon request and actively disseminating such information. Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council71 is also of broad scope, covering the sharing of spatial information, including data sets on different environmental topics. It is important that provisions of this Directive related to access to information and data- sharing arrangements complement those Directives and do not create a separate legal regime. Therefore, the provisions of this Directive regarding information to the public and information on monitoring of implementation should be without prejudice to Directives (EU) 2019/1024, 2003/4/EC and 2007/2/EC. Since the publication of the data will have a significant impact on the value of land, both farmland and building land, in spatial planning, etc., it is important to check that the methodology used is correct and that the data are accurate and reliable before being published. _________________ 69 Directive (EU) 2019/1024 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on open data and the re-use of public sector information, (OJ L 172, 26.6.2019, p. 56). 70 Directive 2003/4/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2003 on public access to environmental information and repealing Council Directive 90/313/EEC (OJ L 41, 14.2.2003, p. 26). 71 Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) (OJ L 108, 25.4.2007, p. 1).
Amendment 219 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1
Article 1 – paragraph 1
1. The objective of the Directive is to put in place a solid and coherent soil monitoring framework for all soils across the EU and to continuously improve soil health in the Union with the view to achieve healthy soils by 2050 and maintain soils in healthy condition, so that they can supply multiple ecosystem services, including as part of the water cycle, at a scale sufficient to meet environmental, societal and economic needs, prevent and mitigate the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss, increase the resilience against natural disasters and for food security and that soil contamination is reduced to levels no longer considered harmful to human health and the environment, taking into account technical feasibility and economic proportionality.
Amendment 229 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point a
Article 1 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) monitoring and, assessment, maintenance and improvement of soil health;
Amendment 242 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 1
(1) ‘soil’ means the top layer of the Earth’s crust situated between the bedrock and the land surface, which is transformed by weather and by chemical and biological processes and is composed of mineral particles, organic matter, water, air and living organisms;
Amendment 244 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 3
(3) ‘ecosystem services’ means direct or indirect contributions of ecosystems to the economic, social, cultural, environmental and other benefits that people derive from those ecosystems;: safe, nutritious and sufficient food, biomass, clean water, nutrient cycling, pollutant regulation, carbon storage and habitat for biodiversity.
Amendment 262 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 5
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 5
(5) ‘sustainable soil management practice’ means soil management practices that maintain or enhance the ecosystem services provided by the soil without impairing the functions enabling those services, or being detrimental to other properties of the environment;
Amendment 268 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 10
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 10
(10) ‘contaminated site’ means a delineated area of one or several plots with confirmed presence of soil contamination caused by point-source anthropogenic activitiesthe presence of a chemical or substance in the soil in a concentration that may be harmful to human health or the environment;
Amendment 271 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 16
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 16
(16) ‘artificial land’ means land used as a platform for constructions and infrastructure orsoil sealing or land used as a direct source of raw material or as archive for historic patrimony at the expense of the capacity of soils to provide other ecosystem services;
Amendment 275 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 17 a (new)
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 17 a (new)
(17a) ‘Soil sealing’ is a form of removing soil from the natural state and means the permanent covering of the soil surface with impermeable artificial materials, resulting in the irreparable loss of soil;
Amendment 279 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 19
Article 3 – paragraph 1 – point 19
(19) ‘public concerned’ means the public affected or likely to be affected by soil degradation, or having an interest in the decision-making procedures related to the implementation of the obligations under this Directive, including land owners, land managers and land users, as well as non- governmental organisations promoting the protection of human health or the environment and meeting any requirements under national law.
Amendment 333 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – point 1 (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 2 – point 1 (new)
(1) Member States shall, in the first instance, designate authorities that are already established (operating) to implement these new tasks. One authority may be responsible for several districts or for all districts in the Member State.
Amendment 342 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 3 – point b
Article 6 – paragraph 3 – point b
(b) the soil sampling points and sampling depth to be determined in accordance with Articles 8(1a) and 8(2);
Amendment 352 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 6 – paragraph 4
Article 6 – paragraph 4
4. The Commission shall, subject to agreement from Member States concerned, as part of the Land Use and Coverage Area frame Survey (LUCAS) statistical programme, carry out regular soil measurements on soil samples taken in- situ, based on the relevant descriptors and methodologies referred to in Articles 7 and 8, to support Member States’ monitoring of soil health. Where a Member State provides agreement in accordance with this paragraph, it shall ensure that the Commission can carry out such in-situ soil sampling.
Amendment 391 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 8 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 8 – paragraph 1 a (new)
1a. Member States shall determine the criteria for taking samples at sampling points by applying the methodology set out in part A of Annex II.
Amendment 416 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3
Article 9 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 3
Member States shall ensure that soil health assessments are performed at least every 5 years, issuing a report on relative improvement, trends, progress or regression, and that the first soil health assessment is performed by … (OP: please insert the date = 5 years after date of entry into force of the Directive).
Amendment 477 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 9 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2
Article 9 – paragraph 5 – subparagraph 2
The Commission may adopt implementing acts to harmonise the format of optional soil health certification. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 21.
Amendment 561 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b a (new)
(ba) (c) opening and restoring soil ecosystem services.
Amendment 562 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b b (new)
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b b (new)
(bb) (d) concentration of urbanised areas taking into account the conservation of green spaces and natural terrain; and
Amendment 563 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b c (new)
Article 11 – paragraph 1 – point b c (new)
(bc) (e) revitalisation of brownfield sites.
Amendment 590 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point g a (new)
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1 – point g a (new)
(ga) occurrence of any disease that is presumed to be linked to exposure to contamination via the soil as a result of local or diffuse pollution.
Amendment 593 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
Article 13 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 2
For the purpose of the first subparagraph point (a), Member Statesthe Commission, the Council of the EU and the European Parliament shall lay down a list of potentially contaminating risk activities. Those activities may be further classified according to their risk to cause soil contamination based on scientific evidence.
Amendment 601 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 14 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Article 14 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Member States shall lay down the rules concerning the deadline, content, form and the prioritisation of the soil investigations, taking into account environmental, social and economic aspects. Those rules shall be established in accordance with the risk- based approach referred to in Article 12 and the list of potentially contaminating risk activities referred to in Article 13(2), second subparagraph.
Amendment 606 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 2
Article 15 – paragraph 2
2. Member States shall define what constitutes anAnnex VIII lays down minimum standards in relation to unacceptable risk for human health and the environmental health resulting from contaminated sites by taking into account existing scientific knowledge, and the precautionary principle, taking local specificities, and current and future land use into consideration.
Amendment 616 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 15 – paragraph 5
Article 15 – paragraph 5
5. The risk reduction measures may consist of the measures referred to in Annex V. When deciding on the appropriate risk reduction measures, the competent authority shall take into consideration the costs, benefits, effectiveness, durability, and technical feasibility of available risk reduction measures. Member States shall always aim to prevent and remove soil contamination.
Amendment 630 #
Given the priority inherently attached to the establishment of soil monitoring and sustainable management and regeneration of soils, the implementation of this Directive shall be supported by existing Union financial programmes in accordance with their applicable rules and conditions. The Commission shall propose recommendations to improve and facilitate the use of funds and integrate soil monitoring and sustainable management into funding under the next MFF.
Amendment 668 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 20 – paragraph 5 a (new)
Article 20 – paragraph 5 a (new)
5a. Prior to the first publication of data, the Commission shall carry out an analysis, together with the Member States, to ensure that the data are robust and reliable.
Amendment 738 #
Proposal for a directive
Annex III – paragraph 1 – point e
Annex III – paragraph 1 – point e
(e) when fertilization is applied, ensure adaptation to the needs of the plant and trees at the given location and in the given period, and to the condition of soil, improve the efficiency of nutrient use and prioritize circular solutions that enrich the organic content;