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CHAPTER 6 : POLICIES FOR SOIL PROTECTION
6.1 There is a significant body of policy in place that impact on soils, providing direct or indirect protection (Fig.6.1). No one legislative or policy tool has been developed specifically with the protection of soil in mind. Where policy or legislation does relate to soil, the extent is generally limited to the protection of a specific impact or function of that soil. Current policies that include some aspects of soil protection are spread across many policy areas, but they do not constitute a coherent soil protection policy. This is because they do not cover all soils and all threats to soils.
Figure 5.1 Main policies contributing to soil protection
6.2 The policies are grouped under the following headings and are set out in greater detail in Annex B:
- Land Use and Management
- Water Quality & Flooding
- Conservation & Biodiversity
- Pollution
- Cultural Heritage
- Planning
- Climate Change and Research cut across all the above mentioned, but are considered separately because of their importance to soil protection.
6.3 In short, current Scottish legislation and policies provide direct and indirect mechanisms for the protection of:
- soil from erosion, loss of organic matter and structural damage, as a consequence of farming practices, afforestation and forest management;
- soil ecosystem and biochemical functions when used for the recovery of organic materials, including sewage sludge;
- soil where there is potential for impact from Part A installations (Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000);
- agricultural soil from nutrient enrichment and pollution;
- soil from acidification and eutrophication through atmospheric deposition;
- soil from the depositions of solvents;
- soil supporting protected species and habitats in designated sites;
- soil holding archaeological remains;
- soil subject to pollution that would lead to pollution of water or groundwater.
6.4 In addition, the application of Environmental Impact Assessment and Strategic Environmental Assessment to projects/plans/programmes and strategies also provide a means of assessing the impacts on soils.
6.5 The European Commission adopted in 2006 a Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection 3, which sets out the threats to soils in Europe and aims to promote soils protection measures amongst member states. In addition, a Soil Framework Directive 4 to put in place a statutory mechanism to address soil degradation has been proposed. EU Environment Ministers have not to date been able to reach agreement on these legislative proposals.
6.6 Stakeholders pointed out that there is a significant quantity of legislation and policy providing a range of protection and conservation tools for soils. However, they argued that limited co-ordination and often ad hoc manner by which this protection has evolved makes the system in place for soil protection potentially confusing, and therefore limiting its combined effectiveness.
Question 6. Do you agree with our analysis of the current role of soils in existing policy framework ?
Question 7. Where do significant gaps in soil protection exist?
Question 8. What are your views on the potential impact of Climate Change on the effectiveness of the existing soil protection policy framework?
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