In this study, I intend to touch upon some new important points in the law relating to soil protection, taking Hungary, Germany, Salzburg, Switzerland, France, The Netherlands and Britain as examples. Comparison and analysis furnish sufficient tools with which to provide a comprehensive view and also to permit conclusions as to recent in this area. A conceptual comparison leads to juridico-linguistic results, whilst a juridico-theoretical analysis reveals the background legal streams directing current law policy as concerns this topic.
An early, sectoral kind of regulation is getting step by step replaced by an integrated system of rules relating to soil protection, as we shall see it in the following chapters. Soil protection is not a separate field within environmental and nature protection: it occupies a central place and is in connection with other areas, thus integrated into the whole legal system.
1. In the recent past, the European Union has made great steps ahead in the area of environmental regulation.
From an environmentalist aspect, The Netherlands is an examplary country for Hungary. I have already taken this country as an example in several other studies, considering its highly developed legal system within the reaches of the European Union. By the Netherlands, I, of course, do not understand the Flemish lands that today belong to Belgium, since, in political terms, it is an other state. So I shall touch upon the relating law of the states nowadays constituting the Dutch state of Holland (such as Drente, Overijssel or Gelderland etc.).
The most important Dutch legislative product is Wet Milieubeheer, a framework act on environmental administrative law, in which the details are expressed in the form of acts of rule of, covering the basic notions and regulations relating to the transportation of contarninated soil, can be found in Wet Milibeheer. The lands (Zeeland, Flevoland, etc.) are legally entitled to form their own regulations governing the organization of the transportation of contarninated soil within the federative regulation. The storing of contaminated soil is one of the tasks of the provinces (provincie) and of the municipalities (gemeente). Wet Milieubeheer stipulates that permission is to be requested before storing activities may be started. It is the duty of the owner to prove that soil in question is not expected to undergo further deterioration during the storing. When only a small quantity of contaminated soil is to be reused within the activities of a company, it is the municipality which decides as to granting or not of authorization.
Wet Bodembescherming is a framework law that covers soil revitalization, but also deals with uncontarninated soil, and the question of possible future soil pollution. In most cases, the provincie is competent, though in some instances, it is the local gemeente. Wet Bodembescherming lays down that, if polluted land was sold at the price of unpolluted land, then, with regard to the rules of unjust enrichment in the Burgerlijk Wetboek (the Civil Code of The Netherlands), the undue sum of money must be paid back to the purchaser. In France, soil used for industrial activities must be revitalized during or on completion of the polluting industrial activities, but at the latest when the land involved is sold, to eliminate the dangers or inconveniences specified under Section 1 of the Act of 19 July 1976.
In respect of the Bouwstoffenbesluit, i.e. the ordinance on building materials, and of the Vrijstellingsregeling, minor amounts of polluted soil can be recycled or reused after proper revitalization.
The ordinance of 8 December 1997 on waste disposal sites and on materials that cannot be deposited (besluit) is based on Wet Milieubeheer. It strictly forbids the depositing of highly polluted soil without a permit issued by the Service Centrum Grond (Central Soil Agency) declaring the possibility of revitalization. According to Section 30, Paragraph (3) of the Hungarian Code on Environmental Protection, the rules on the treatment (disposal and utilization) of wastes shall also be applied with regard to substances separated during various cleaning or demolition operations, polluted soil that has become waste and products that have been disassembled or are to be disassembled. In France, in respect of Section 7-2 of Act 92-646 of 13 July 1992 on the elimination of waste and on classified installations for environmental protection (lot relative a l'élimination des déchets ainsi qu' aux installations classées pour la protection de l'environnement), which modified Act 75-633 of 15 July 1975 on the elimination of waste and the regaining of materials (loi relative a l'élimination des déchets et a la récupération des matériaux) by virtue of the Eu-
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ropean Union's directive making amendments to the EU Waste Framework Directive of 75/442, waste disposal sites may be established with the consent of the concerned land owner or at his or her request, and an impact study must be peformed to consider the state of the surface and subsurface strata of the land. According to Section 6-1 of the same Act, pour les installation dont l'exploitation pour une durée illimitée créerait des dangers ou inconvénients inacceptables, du fait d'une utilisation croissante du sol ou du sous-sol, l'autorisation doit fixer la durée maximale de l'exploitation ou de la phase d'exploitation concernée et, le cas échéant, le volume maximal de produits stockés ou extraits, ainsi que les conditions du réaménagement du site a l'issue de l'exploitation... i.e. the exploitation especially of surface or subsurface strata of land that poses unacceptable risks of harm may be authorized only for a fixed period, and revitalization of the polluted site after the work has been completed is designated as compulsory.
According to the Vrijstelling grondverzet, small quantities polluted soil need not be destroyed, but can be mixed with clean soil and subsequently reused.
In The Netherlands, the Woningwet, i.e. the Act on Dwelling-places, entered into force in 1901. Its latest, amended version is dated 1 January 2003. This act states that it is within the competency of the local municipality to permit the use of building materials if these are sufficiently free from contamination, and also to examine the level of pollution of the land on which the dwelling-place is to be built. Section 6 of the German Bundes Bodenschutz Gesetz stipulates that the Bundesregierung must organize the acceptance of the Rechtsverordnung (ordinance) by the Bundesrat from this aspect. In respect of Action 50 of the First Soil Action Plan for England (2004-2006), an improvement has to be attained in the monitoring of the use of soils in relation to building development, compliance with soil protection conditions for the granting of planning permission, and the reduction of off-site impacts. According to Section 10, Paragraph (2) of the Act on Soil Protection of Salzburg, die Landesregierung kann unter Bedachtnahme auf die Ziele dieses Gesetzes und unter Berücksichtigung der Erkenntnisse der Wissenschafì und des Standes der Technik durch Verordnung nähere Vorschriften über die Verwendung bestimmter Materialien auf Böden erlassen, i.e. BAT (the Best Available Technology or Techniques) is to be applied for materials introduced into soil. In connection with Nahrungsmittelproduktion (food production), sewage (Klärschlamm) must not be allowed to enter the soil. According to Section 13 of the same act, it is strictly forbidden to introduce household waste or sewage into the soil (die Verwendung von Senkgrubeninhalten aus häuslichen Abwässern auf landwirtschaftlichen Böden ist verboten). Section 18 requires the creation of a Materialregister in order to record data relating to the introduction of materials into the soil. Information resulting from soil examinations is registered and available in the Bodendatenbank (i.e. the data bank relating to the soil) at the level of the Land of Salzburg (Austria). Section 19 (ibidem) demands that the Land government report on all available data concerning the soil to the Landtag every tenth year. As regards the entry of sewage into the soil, the Land government must report to the Commission of the European Union every third year. Sections 5 and 6 of the Swiss Ordonnance sur l'assainissement des sites pollués of 1998 relate to the establishment of a register (cadastre des sites pollués) of polluted sites, based on available information, maps and inventories. The competent authority must inform the possessor of a polluted site about what it intends to register, allowing the possessor of the contaminated land to supply explanations. The competent authority has the right to decide whether, with regard to possible harm or inconvenience, it is necessary or not to make an official investigation in order to determine the possible need for surveillance or revitalization.
Wet op de ruimtelijke ordening, i.e. the Dutch act on country planning dated 5 July 1962, predorrtinantly puts forward rules concerning the reuse or recycling of the soil. It is obligatory to request permission before commencing any construction, which must be vetted from the aspects of country planning, development and resettlement.
The defence against erosion of the surface of the land in The Netherlands is regulated by Ontgrondingwet of 27 November 1965. According to Section 7 of the Swiss Federal Soil Protection Act, quiconque manipule, excave ou décape un sol doit procéder de telle facon que le solpuisse etre réutilisé en tant que tel. Si des matériaux terreux sont utilisés pour reconstituer un sol (p. ex. en vue de la remise en état ou du remodelage d'un terrain), ils doivent etre mis en place de telle maniere que a) la fertilité du sol en place et celle du sol reconstitué ne soient que provisoirement perturbées par des atteintes physiques, b) le sol en place ne subisse pas d'atteintes chimiques supplémentaires. Thus, anyone who makes use of, excavates or takes away the surface of the soil is obliged to do so in such a manner that the soil in question may be reused as soil. If soil materials are used for soil revitalization, this must be implemented in the following way: a) the fertility of the local soil and that of the revitalized soil may suffer physical inconvenience merely transitionally, and b) the local soil must not be exposed to chemical harm in excess of the normal.
Since Wet Bodembescherming was passed by the Dutch Parliament in 1987, a great number of new
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problems have arisen. Accordingly, Beleidsvernieuwing Bodemsanering (BE VER), i.e. legislation on Land Renewal and Soil Revitalization, became necessary. The Commission of the European Union has developed a strategy of land protection, relating among others to land pollution, acidification and airborne pollution of the land. This is a currently highlighted issue of legislation in the European Union. Silting up, compaction and salination may all impair the quality of the soil, thereby causing huge harm. In the European Union, the accent is on point and diffuse soil pollution and on the soil revitalization programme of the European Environment Agency. In respect of Action 25 of the First Soil Action Plan for England (2004-2006), it is the duty of the Defra (the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) and the Environment Agency to review and evaluate the impacts of contaminants mobilized and transported by floodwaters, in order to acquire a better understanding of the issue of diffuse pollution of soils from this source. According to Action 28 (ibidem), the impact on soil resources from diffuse sources is to be examined and, as a result, a new policy in this field is to be developed. According to Section 59 Paragraph, (1) of the Hungarian Act on Arable Land, soil must be protected by approved professional soil conservation and cultivation procedures, soil protection measures and facilities designed to prevent water and wind erosion that jeopardizes the quality of arable land, extreme water conditions, interventions, processes causing sodification, acidification and other physical, chemical and biological deterioration or contamination, and steps to keep the soil fertile. Paragraph (3) (ibidem) states that soil conservation is the direct responsibility of the land user.
In respect of Section 6 of the Swiss Federal Act on Soil Protection, quiconque construit une installation ou exploite un sol doit, en tenant compte des caractéristiques physiques du sol et de son état d'humidité, choisir et utiliser des véhicules, des machines et des outils de maniere a prévenir les compactions et les autres modifications de la structure des sols qui pourraient menacer la fertilité du sol a long terme. Hence, the person making use of land must choose the machines, vehicles and tools so as to comply with the physical characteristics and humidity of the soil, in order to prevent compaction which would menace the long-term fertility of the soil. According to Action 22 of the First Soil Action Plan for England (2004-2006), Defra, the Environment Agency and partners will work together to bring about changes to the Waste Management Licensing Regulations in order to ensure that the application of licensed and exempt wastes does not impair the long-term functioning of the soil.
To return to the European Union's recent legislation, mention should be made of the European Parliament resolution on the Commission communication Towards a Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection (COM (2002) 179 - C5-0328/2002 - 2002/2172 (COS)). In this resolution, the European Parliament urges the Commission, in cooperation with the Member States and the competent regional authorities, to draw up by 2007 a scientific soil catalogue which should include the nature of the soil, its biography, health and vulnerability, degradation and erosion processes and contaminated areas etc. It calls on the Commission to establish (when the scientific soil catalogue has been drawn up) a link between soil protection and soil use; the creation of mechanisms for the constant surveillance of soil use; the drawing up of guidelines, addressed to the Member States and the competent regional authorities, for the prevention, monitoring and control of soil pollution; with regard to the SOVEUR report of 2000 by G.W. Van Lynden on soil degradation in Central and Eastern Europe (the assessment of the status of human-induced soil degradation) (FAO-ISRIC, Rome), the performance of an audit to provide a methodical assessment and mapping of European soil, taking into account the triplets of precaution, anticipation and prevention - all in the spirit of the FAO World Soil Charter; it proposes that European soils be zonified; the creation of a Europe-wide monitoring system; it considers it necessary that the issue of soil protection be better integrated into Community policy; the provision of free impartial data and advice to farmers, in both arable and pastoral systems; it calls on the European Commission to review existing legislation with a view to the improved integration of soil protection and, through supplementary proposals, to ensure that greater account is taken of soil protection in the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) 1996/61/EEC Directive (enacted in Hungary by Governmental Decree 193/2001 and the Strategic Environmental Assessment Directive; it stresses the highly important role of agriculture in the revitalization of soil; it calls on the European Commission to provide an incentive, through the CAP (the Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union to subsidize agricultural production by more or less fixing prices) environmental flanking programmes, for practices geared towards soil conservation, and to promote, with suitable EAGGF support, the crops and uses which are most appropriate to the soil characteristics and the economic and social context; it stresses in this connection the role which legumes might play in preserving the vegetation cover and the wealth of fauna in certain regions, since the capacity of these crops to hold nitrogen
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makes it possible to use less fertilizer; and it calls on the European Commission to draw up guidelines for the restoration of contaminated soil in urban and fringe areas.
In Switzerland, Section 3 of the Ordonnance sur les atteintes portées aux sols (Ordinance on Soil Protection) of 1 July 1998 of the Conseil fédéral suisse (Federal Council of Switzerland) lays down that l'Office fédéral de l'environnement, des preis et du paysage (OFEPP) gere en collaboration avec l'Office fédéral de l'agriculture (OFAG) un réseau national de référence pour l'observation des atteintes portées aux sols (NABO). L'OFEPP informe les cantons et publie les résultats, i.e. the Federal Environmental, Forest and Land Agency (OFEPP), in cooperation with the Federal Agency of Agriculture (OFAG), will direct a national network for the observation of soil protection (NABO). The OFEPP conveys information to the cantons and publishes the results.
As regards free access to information relating to soil protection, the possibilities include Stakeholders Information and Consultation meetings, i.e. ad hoc meetings organized when required, where representatives from states and organizations participate together with individuals, and the Soil CIRCA Library and Discussion Forum, i.e. an electronic tool accessible to all Internet users, containing all background documents on soil strategy and also detailed information for meetings, groups and events; the Discussion Forum allows the exchange of information within a large soil interest conglomerate, an Advisory Forum and a total of six Working Groups, each with a specific role and mandate; members of those groups are representatives from Member States of the European Union, Candidate Countries, EU Institutions and a broad range of European-wide stakeholder organizations, together with a Commission Interservice Working Group, a working group of European Commission officials representing the different EU policies of relevance to soil strategy; these units co-operate closely on the integration of soil protection into EU policies.
The soil is the interface between the hydrosphere and the atmosphere and the organisms inhabiting them; it regulates natural material and energy cycles and is extremely sensitive to the effects of climate change, human and historical activities, with the result that its structure and characteristics are the products of an age-old process, making it a non-renewable resource. According to Actions 31 and 32 of the First Soil Action Plan for England (2004-2006), new tools are to be developed to manage the risks to soils from climate change. Gesetz zum Schutz vor schädlichen Bodenveränderungen und zur Sanierung von Altlasten, i.e. the German Act on Soil Protection of 17 March 1998 (recently modified by Section 3 of the Act of 9 December 2004), expresses a similar definition in its Section 2, Paragraph (2): der Boden erfüllt 1. natürliche Funktionen als a) Lebensgrundlage und Lebensraum für Menschen, Tiere, Pflanzen und Bodenorganismen, b) Bestandteil des Naturhaushalte, insbesondere mit seinem Wasser- und Nährstoffkreislufen, c) Abbau-, Ausgleichsund Aufbaumedium für stoffliche Einwirkungen aufGrund der Filter-, Puffer- und Stoffumwandlungseigenschaften, insbesondere auch zum Schutz des Grundwassers, 2. Funktionen als Archiv der Natur- und Kulturgeschichte sowie 3. Nutzungsfunktionen als a) Rohstojflagerstätte, b) Fläche für Siedlung und Erholung, c) Standort für die landund forstwirtschaftliche Nutzung, d) Standort für sonstige wirtschaftliche und öffentliche Nutzungen, Verkehr, Veruna Entsorgung, which relate to 1. the natural functions of the soil, as a) a living area for people, animals, plants and bioorganisms, b) a part of nature, mainly as concerns its water content and food production, and c) filtration and buffer functions, 2. an archive of culture and nature history, and 3. agriculture and forestry aspects, with uses for economic purposes and transportation. According to the Bodenschutzgesetz of 4 July 2001 of the Austrian Land of Salzburg soil protection also serves the production of sufficient healthy food (...für die Produktion ausreichender und gesunder Nahrungsmittel...). The First Soil Action Plan for England (2004-2006) stipulates that the soil comprises an essential component of our biodiversity and supports and/or influences all of our ecosystems.
The Dutch Act on Soil Revitalization of 1983 provided the basis for the elimination of prelegislation soil pollution (i.e. pollution of the land dating from before the coming into force of the relative act of rule) by the establishment of waste disposal mechanisms. All within 10 years. However, an abundance of problems arose during the implementation, requiring a much larger budget than anticipated. The sites of many early factories, previously thought to not to pose any problem, turned out to be polluted. With regard to the vast scale of the problem, a governmental working group, Beleidsvernieuwing Bodemsanering (Land Renewal Land Revitalization) was set up, data were collected and with financial contributions from firms involved, relatively rapid economic and pragmatic results followed. First, assessment of the number and surface area of the sites to be revitalized was planned.
In The Netherlands, within the framework of the 4[th] national environmental programme (milieubeleidsplan), all areas to be revitalized were to be taken into a special register by 2005 at the latest. Prelegislation pollution had to be registered from 2004, and all such pollution is scheduled to be eliminated by 2023. Pollution generated after 1987 is to be eliminated immediately.
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Large companies, such as the railways or the petrol station chains, reached agreement with the competent adrrunistrative organs to make the work on their part more flexible and feasible. Pollution generated after 1975 (the year of publication of the Waste Framework Directive in the European Economic Community) is resolved on the PPP (Polluter Pays Principle). The Bedrijvenregeling, which entered into force in 2002, stipulates that it is the duty of the company involved to cover all the costs of revitalization. The provincies Gelderland, Friesland and Zuiden-Holland (South-Holland) created their own funds to subsidize the revitalization in these regions. Only about one-quarter of all the expenses of land revitalization is covered by the state; the remainder is provided by the economic market.
As concerns administrative contracts, i.e. the agreements between very large firms and the public administration, Section 23 of the Swiss Ordonannce sur l'assainissement des sites pollués (Ordinance on the Revitalization of Polluted Areas) of 24 August 1998 prescribes close cooperational links between the competent authorities and the concerned natural persons or representatives of legal entities to achieve a better implementation of this ordinance. Section 1, Paragraph (1) prescribes that la présente ordonnance vise a garantir que les sites pollués seront assainis s'ils causent des atteintes nuisibles ou incommodantes a l'environnement, ou s'il existe un danger concret que de telles atteintes apparaissent, i.e. the polluted areas will be revitalized if they cause harm to the environment, or if there is a concrete risk of such harm.
The potential impacts of the active ingredients of veterinary products and their metabolites on soil biodiversity must be understood by the veterinary medicine industry, as stipulated by Action 29 in the First Soil Action Plan for England (2004-2006).
2. In Hungary, Sections 14-17 of the Code on Environmental Protection (Land Conservation) cover the surface and subsurface strata of the land, the soil, the rock formations and minerals, and the natural and transitional forms and processes thereof. Land conservation includes conservation of the productivity, structure, water and air balance, and biota of the soil. The only activities that may be pursued on or beneath the land surface, and the only materials that may be deposited there, are those that do not pollute or damage the quantity, quality and processes of the land and the environmental components. Prior to and in the course of the implementation of projects (such as construction and mining), the top-soil shall be adequately removed for use as agricultural soil. The user of an area shall provide for the scheduled revitalization or development of the area or for the conditions for restoration of the area once the activities involving the utilization of the land have been completed, and even while the environment is being utilized if so stipulated by legal regulation or official decision.
Section 37 of Act LV on Arable Land stipulates that the elements of the landscape determining its morphological and local climatic character, and in particular its topographical features and characteristic surface formations, natural waters, reeds and aquatic habitats (lakes, watercourses, dry streambeds and springs), the natural vegetation of areas unsuitable for agricultural production, and the aspects of the local landscape of importance for cultural or historical purposes (tumuli, earth fortresses, archaeological sites, ruins, etc.), shall be preserved in the course of the utilization of arable land, the preparation and implementation of melioration plans, and the pursuance of any other activities. Section 38, Paragraph (2) calls for users to provide regular care for the vegetation of land which is not classified as arable land, if this does not prevent or restrict the use of such land for other purposes (i.e. secondary utilization).
According to Section 39, Paragraph (1), upon the termination of non-agricultural utilization, users shall restore the condition of the land so as to make it suitable for agricultural production or for forestation and provide for its utilization (i.e. reutilization). Users shall notify the land title office concerning the termination of non-agricultural utilization. Plans for the work to be performed prior to the reutilization shall be attached with the notification (ibidem, Paragraph (2)). For alteration of the cultivation profile of any arable land that is under protection as a nature preservation area, the permission of the nature preservation authority shall be obtained and attached to the notification submitted to the land title office concerning alteration of the cultivation profile (ibidem, Section 42, Paragraph (1)).
Schädliche Bodenveränderungen... sind Beeinträchtigungen der Bodenfunktionen, die geeignet sind, Gefahren, erhebliche Nachteile oder erhebliche Belästigungen für den einzelnen oder die Allgemeinheit herbeizuführen (Bundes Bodenschutz Gesetz, Section 2, Paragraph (3)). Section 4 of the Act on Soil Protection of Salzburg lays down that jedermann ist verpflichtet, Bodenbelastungen auf das unvermeidbare Maß zu beschränken, i.e. all activities that damage the soil must be reduced to a minimal level. Bei Baumaßnahmen ist sparsamer und schonender Umgang mit dem Boden an den Tag zu legen: in the course of construction work, the soil is to be saved.
Vineyards, orchards, areas equipped for irrigation, melioration areas and arable land of better than average quality may be used for the purpose of development projects confined to a particular area only in exceptionally justified cases. Only areas unsuit-
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able for agricultural purposes or those of poor quality shall be used for use as waste disposal sites, in due observation of the environmental protection requirements (Hungarian Act on Arable Land, Section 44, Paragraph (2)).
The objective of soil conservation is to preserve the fertility and quality of arable land, and to prevent its physical, chemical or biological deterioration. Conservation of the soil is the joint responsibility of the state and the land user, and of the investor and operator (ibidem, Section 58).
As concerns the liability of the state, an appropriate surveying, monitoring, control and information service, and also a national soil conservation strategy are to be created by the state. One of the tasks of the state is the propagation of environmentallyfriendly technology and procedures (see ibidem, Section 60). On the other hand, land users must abide strictly by the requirements to be found in constitutional acts, such as Act LIII of 1995 on Environmental Protection, Act LIII of 1996 on Nature Protection, Act LV of 1994 on Arable Land, Act XXVIII of 1998 on Animal Protection, Act XCI of 1995 on Animal Hygiene, etc. (Hungarian Act on Arable Land, Section 61).
Jeder, der auf den Boden einwirkt, hat sich so zu verhalten, daß schädliche Bodenveränderungen nicht hervorgerufen werden. Der Grundstückseigentümer und der Inhaber der tatsächlichen Gewalt über ein Grundstück sind verpflichtet, Maßnahmen zur Abwehr der von ihrem Grundstück drohenden schädlichen Bodenveränderungen zu ergreifen (German Bundes Bodenschutz Gesetz, Section 4, Paragraphs (1)-(2)), i.e. land users are obliged to observe the regulations governing land protection, and the owner or the user of land must prevent any land pollution origmating from their own land. Der Verursacher einer schädlichen Bodenveränderung oder Altlast sowie dessen Gesamtrechtsnachfolger, der Grundstückseigentümer und der Inhaber der tatsächlichen Gewalt über ein Gründstück sind verpflichtet, den Boden und Altlasten sowie durch schädliche Bodenveränderungen oder Altlasten verursachte Verunreinigungen von Gewässern so zo sanieren, daß dauerhaß keine Gefahren, erheblichen Nachteile oder erheblichen Belästigungen für den einzelnen oder die Allgemeinheit entstehen (ibidem, Paragraph (3)), i.e. those who cause harm to or pollution of the soil, their successors in right, the owner of the land and the user of the land must answer for the revitalization of damaged land, so that no other long-term damage occurs. Der frühere Eigentümer eines Grundstücks ist zur Sanierung verpflichtet, wenn er sein Eigentum nach dem 1. März 1999 übertragen hat und die schädliche Bodenveränderung oder Altlast hierbei kannte oder kennen mußte. Dies gilt für denjenigen nicht, der beim Erwerb des Grundstücks darauf vertraut hat, daß schädliche Bodenveränderungen oder Altlasten nicht vorhanden sind, und sein Vertrauen unter Berücksichtigung der Umstände des Einzelfalles schutzwürdig ist (ibidem, Paragraph (6)), i.e. the former land owner is obliged to revitalize the polluted land if he or she sold the concerned land after 1 March 1999 and was aware of the soil being polluted. This is not so if the former owner sold the polluted land truly believing that the land had not been polluted.
In Hungary, regulations are to be found in Section 62 of the Act on Arable Land that are quite close to those in (e.g. Section 7) Act XXXI of 1879 on Forest Protection (to a certain extent, a literal copy of the Austrian Act on Forest Protection of 1852) and in (e.g. Section 5 and in the Comment No. 1 of the Minister of Agriculture) Act IV of 1935 on Forest and Nature Protection: a soil-friendly plantation is obligatory for the purpose of preventing soil erosion, so that the plants growing in the soil are presumed to conform to the characteristic features of the soil, and to inhibit the airborne erosion of, for example, sandy land.
In order to prevent contamination, land users shall refrain from using any foreign materials which are likely to damage the soil in the course of cultivation (Section 66, Paragraph (1) of the Act on Arable Land, Hungary).
3. Vorsorgepflicht (the duty of taking care) is explained by Section 7 of the German Bundes Bodenschutz Gesetz: Der Grundstückseigentümer, der Inhaber der tatsächlichen Gewalt über ein Grundstück und derjenige, der Verrichtungen auf einem Grundstück durchführt oder durchführen läßt, die zu Veränderungen der Bodenbeschaffenheit führen können, sind verpflichtet, Vorsorge gegen das Entstehen schädlicher Bodenveränderungen zu treffen, die durch ihre Nutzung auf dem Grundstück oder in dessen Einwirkungsbereich hervorgerufen werden können. Vorsorgemaßnahmen sind geboten, wenn wegen der räumlichen, langfristigen oder komplexen Auswirkungen einer Nutzung auf die Bodenfunktionen die Besorgnis einer schädlichen Bodenveränderung besteht, i.e. the owner of the land or the user of the land is obliged to respect the requirements for soil protection; to prevent damage to the soil; and, in the event of wide-ranging, long-lasting or complex use of the land functions, to take the measures necessary to prevent harmful alterations in the soil.
Section 17, Paragraph (1) of the same act states that bei der landwirtschaftlichen Bodennutzung wird die Vorsorgepflicht nach § 7 durch die gute fachliche Praxis erfüllt, i.e. in the event of agricultural land use, the Vorsorgepflicht must be expressed according to the criteria of good professional practice: standortangepaßt (respecting the local characteristic features); daß die Bodenstruktur erhalten oder verbessert wird (so
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that the structure of the soil remains as good as before utilization or becomes even better than it was); Bodenverdichtungen, insbesondere durch Berücksichtigung der Bodenart, Bodenfeuchtigkeit und des von den zur landwirtschaftlichen Bodennutzung eingesetzten Geräten verursachten Bodendrucks, so weit wie möglich vermieden werden (to avoid compaction of the soil, mainly by respecting the characteristic features of the soil, the water content of the soil and the pressure exerted by agricultural machines on the soil); Bodenabträge, insbesondere durch Wasser oder Wind (to inhibit the ablation of the soil, mainly by washing away or by wind erosion); die naturbetonten Strukturelemente der Feldflur, insbesondere Hecken, Feldgehölze, Feldraine und Ackerterrassen, die zum Schutz des Bodens notwendig sind, erhalten werden (the elements of nature, such as fences, trees, boundaries and land terraces, necessary to protect the soil, are to be preserved); die biologische Aktivität des Bodens durch entsprechende Fruchtfolgegestaltung erhalten oder gefördert wird (the biological activity of the soil is to be preserved by means of appropriate fruit plantations); der standorttypische Humusgehalt des Bodens erhalten wird (the humus content of the soil corresponding to the site must also be preserved).
Section 6, Paragraph (1) of the Act on Soil Protection of Salzburg prescribes that die Eigentümer oder Nutzungsberechtigten landwirtschaftlicher Böden haben die Bodenfruchtbarkeit und die Leistungsfähigkeit der Böden als natürliche Ressource durch standortgerechte Bewirtschaftungsmaßnahmen nach den Regeln der guten fachlichen Praxis nachhaltig zu sichern, i.e. the owner or the legal possessor of agricultural lands must preserve its fertility and productivity in respect of relative local regulations and according to good professional practice. In Austria, the competence of legislation is shared between the federal state and the Lands. The protection of forest soil (Waldboderi), for instance, may be regulated only by the federal state, whilst other soil-meilorating acts of rule come under the authority of the Land. Section 7, Paragraph (2) of the same act continues: als geeignete bodenverbessernde Maßnähmen können insbesondere angeordnet werden (good soil melioration measures are): a) Verbote oder Beschränkungen von bestimmten Arten der Bodennutzung oder der Anwendung von bestimmten Stoffen (the forbidding or restriction of certain forms of land use, or certain materials); b) Maßnahmen zur Wiederherstellung der Bodenfunktionen, insbesondere eine Rekultivierung (measures to revitalize the functions of the land, especially recultivation); c) wenn die Beseitigung der Bodenbelastung nicht möglich oder wirtschaftlich unzumutbar ist, neben den Verboten und Beschränkungen die zur Überwachung und Sicherung erforderlichen Maßnahmen (when harmful use of the soil cannot be avoided or its avoidance would be economically unprofitable, measures of surveillance and security must be taken besides the forbidding and restricting dispositions); etc.
4. Sections 8-11 of the Swiss Federal Act on Soil Protection stipulate that, at a cantonal level, extra measures of restriction may be taken when people, the flora or the fauna are exposed to extra danger unforeseen by this act. In France, the town mayor is authorized to issue legislation (through the administrateur public, i.e. the town clerk), according to his administrative competence, in order to restrict or to forbid any substance that could cause harm to health, to the soil, etc. Depending on the period of the year, the type of agricultural activities and the quality of the soil, with the aim of protecting the water resources, fertilization of the soil is regulated by the Reglement Sanitaire Départemental, i.e. the County Health Ordinance. It is the task of the local mayor to enact these regulations in the form of arretés municipaux. The protection of local plants from insects and parasites, and the protection of fish, are regulated by the French Code Rural. Section 9 of the Swiss Ordonnance sur les sites pollués demands surveillance of a polluted site with regard to the preservation of water below the surface of the soil (la protection des eaux souterraines). Section 10 (ibidem) declares the necessity to protect water on the surface of polluted soil (la protection des eaux de surface). Section 11 (ibidem) stipulates that people must be protected against airborne pollution (protection contre la pollution atmosphérique). According to Section 12 (ibidem), regulations concerning protection of the soil, humans, animals and plants on polluted sites are to be found in Sections 34-35 of the Act on Environmental Protection (Loi sur la Protection de l'Environnement of Switzerland). In Section 16 (ibidem), the aim of revitalization is specified as the elimination of substances dangerous to the environment (décontamination); the prevention of the spreading of dangerous materials over a larger surface (confinement); and restriction of the use of contaminated soil (according to Section 34, Paragraph 2 of the Environmental Code). Section 20 (ibidem) details the measures of investigation, surveillance and revitalization are to be taken by the possessor of the polluted site (détenteur du site pollué). Section 17 lays down that a prehrninary project of revitalization is to be set up. Section 11-2 of the French Act on Waste Elimination of 1992 states that les travaux de recherches deformations ou de cavités géologiques susceptibles d'etre utilisées pour le stockage souterrain de déchets ultimes ne peuvent etre entrepris que a) soit par le propriétaire du sol avec son consentement, apres déclaration au préfet, b) soit, a défaut de ce consentement, par autorisation conjointe des
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ministres chargés des mines et de l'environnement, apres que le propriétaire a été invité a présenter ses observations, dans les conditions fixées par décret en Conseil d'État, i.e. the search for an area appropriate to the purposes of waste disposal below the surface of the land must be undertaken a) either by the owner himself of the land in question or with his or her consent, b) or, in the lack of such consent, with the authorization of the minister responsible for environmental protection and the minister who answers for the mines; naturally, the owner of the land is also to be invited to make personal observations, according to the decree by the French Administrative Supreme Court. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood of the area, the electors (les élus in the French electoral political voting system) and any non-profit organizations involved (associations concernées) are also allowed to put forward their observations, so that all act in concert.
According to Section 7-5 of the French Act on Waste Elimination of 1992, des servitudes peuvent etre instituées sur des terrains pollués par l'exploitation d'une installation ainsi que sur les sites de stockage de déchets. Ces servitudes peuvent, en outre, comporter la limitation ou l'interdiction des modifications de l'état du sol ou du sous-sol et permettre la mise en oeuvre des prescriptions relatives a la surveillance du site, i.e. the limitation or forbidding of modification of the state of the surface and subsurface strata of the land, and surveillance of the polluted site alike, may be stipulated.
On 3 April 1996, the French minister responsible for environmental protection addressed an order to the county prefect police (préfet) to draw up a study within 3-5 years on soil exposed to pollution. Depending on the degree of risk, there are sites which necessitate investigation in depth and hierarchization of the interventions; sites which must be kept under surveillance and where measures of urbanization are to be taken; and sites where special work does not need to be done. With a budget ensured by Act of 2 February 1995, under the administrative direction of ADEME, the French state assumes responsibility for the revitalization of sites if the owner happens to be insolvent (sites orphelins). Taxes on special industrial waste (déchets industriels spéciaux), on urban waste discharged without preliminary treatment (déchets ménagers mis en décharge sans traitement) and on stocking firms (entreprises de stockage) are also devoted to the restoration of polluted sites. The Water Agency and tax payers likewise contribute to the costs. A committee has recently been set up to tackle the costs of cleaning polluted sites, called sires orphelins (orphan sites). Throughout France, approximately 300 000 sites are presumed to be polluted, and the Direction de la Prévention des Pollutions et des Risques (Pollution and Risk Prevention Agency) estimates that around one-third of these sites are seriously contaminated, which poses a great problem. The pollution is predominantly due to hydrocarbons. The reason for this is that decontamination is mostly implemented within the framework of the petrol and mining industry, and the techniques applied are not really adequate to eliminate all the chlorine-containing components and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Research in the field of mineral pollutions remains to be developed. An understanding of the trapping of metals by the soil implies a knowledge of the chemistry of the substances to be found among the mineral and/or liquid and organic phases. Effective enforcement of recent changes to the regulations on permissible concentrations of metals in animal feeds is prescribed by Action 23 of the First Soil Action Plan for England. Action 24 (ibidem) requires testing of whether the controls on the use of metal-containing veterinary medicines are appropriate to balance environmental and livestock interests.
Biological techniques (relating to bacteria, fungi and enzymes); the extraction of pollutants; stabilization: mixing of the soil with clay and lime in the event of pollution by heavy metals; hydropneumatic drainage through the injection of oxygen into the soil and activation of the organic pollutants with tensioactives; the rehabilitation of subsurface water containing volatile organic components and the injection of compressed air into the aquatic stratum, forcing the polluted water up into a well, where the liquid phase is separated from the gaseous phase rich in COV; in situ inactivation of the waste by the injection of a binding agent; confinement: retention of the polluted soil and water in order to impede the migration of the pollution, and encapsulation of the polluted soil; treatment outside the site: excavation of the polluted soil in order to treat it before reuse. Briefly, these are recurrent, worldwide procedures in soil protection.
According to UPDS (an association of 30 companies dealing with the depollution of the soil), the depollution market in France is currently stagnating at much below the level of the corresponding German market. This market is a technically complex one, bound by regulations concerning obligations to effect depollution. Considerable sums of money are involved. The elevated costs of soil depollution induce companies to freeze their polluted lands, rather than to clean them in order to sell them.
5. In 2001, the British Government published a Draft Soil Strategy for England as a consultation document in 2001, and received over 100 responses. The extent diversity and quality of the soil are the main factors guiding English soil policy.
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The First Soil Action Plan for England (2004-2006) is aimed at policy-makers, leaders of the industry and other influential personalities across the wide spectrum of activities that impinge on soil: from land use planning, construction and mineral extraction, to agriculture, forestry and the conservation of nature, the landscape and the cultural heritage. The Plan builds on the earlier Draft Soil Strategy for England and sets out the actions which Defra and its partners are committed to take to promote the protection of soil functions. Defra plans to work with stakeholders to develop a programme of education and awareness of soil issues among the general public, those working with the soil and professionals who guide, advise or instruct soil managers. They tend to implement the CAP cross-compliance conditions in such a way as to enhance the management of soil in the farming industry. Defra intends to build on the output of its Learning Skills and Knowledge review and the Whole Farm Appraisals to develop a strategy for providing farmers and other land managers with practical information and advice, facilitating the integration of good soil management into overall farm planning. It is foreseen that Defra will work with stakeholders to identify those indicators which should be incorporated into a national soil monitoring project, in order to develop a scheme which meets both national and European requirements. Cooperation is planned with other government departments and agencies, as well as with the National Soil Resources Institute at Cranfield University (as co-owners of key data sets) and other soil data users, with a view to providing a better access to information on soils.
The British journal Nature is preparing and will publish in 2006 a report on the role of soil management and protection within statutory nature conservation sites. In 2006, a Second Action Plan is projected to be drawn up in England.
Estimates suggest that 18% of the organic carbon present in arable topsoils in 1980 had been lost by 1995. Researchers have estimated that the total long- and short-term costs of erosion in the United Kingdom amount to between 23 million pounds and 50 million pounds per annum. 80% of the land in the United Kingdom (and hence a broadly corresponding percentage of its soil) is managed primarily for biomass production by farmers and foresters. Economic pressure and rewards for farmers over the past few decades have not encouraged the management of soils so as to preserve their long-term sustainability or optimize their role in maintaining clean air and water.
An example may be given to illustrate how specialist advice may be provided to aid farmers maintain soil quality. SMI Ltd. (Soil Management Initiative), an independent organization in Britain, gave advice to a lettuce-grower whose land had experienced severe erosion, including the development of a deep gulley. His subsequent field operations were impacted by the presence of the gulley, and sediment and water routinely ran onto an adjacent road. The grower's approach to the problem was to remove the soil from the road, store it until after the harvest, and then return it to the field. His normal cultivation practice was to power-harrow and drill the sandy seed bed, which had resulted in a soil with a granular structure and little stability. SMI visited the grower and ascertained that drainage water from a compacted playing field adjacent to the site was flowing onto the field. The SMI advisor suggested that the erosion problem could be resolved by the installation of an intercepting drainage system; leaving the field uncultivated until the lettuce-seed was drilled; using a cover crop in winter; chopping and incorporating straw in order to improve the soil structure; and changing to a cultivator drill.
Soil protection, as a basic element of the law relating to environmental and nature protection, constitutes an important factor in current European Union. Recent developments in legislation in various European countries are presented as example that may serve as the basis of comparison. The issues touched upon above convey a positive image of real advances in this field.
The comparisons made reveal a number of common features of the legislative policies throughout Europe, these being enacted in a concerted manner in both theory and practice. The main aim appears to be the preservation of nature in order to maintain a properly functioning economic market, backed by the necessary environmental policy by virtue of sustainable development. The sustainable management of soils is a central pillar in sustainable development. Far from being a burden, sustainable development is an exceptional opportunity - economically, to build markets and create jobs, socially, to bring people in from the margins, and politically, to reduce tensions over resources that could lead to violence and to give every man and woman a voice, and a choice, in deciding their own future, announced Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, at the Johannesburg Conference (Rio +10) in 2002.
2. http://www.planetecologie.org
3. http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/land/soil/pdf/soilactionplan.pdf ■
Lábjegyzetek:
[1] The Author is a Research Fellow, Szeged.
Visszaugrás
