Synopsis
This Directive will establish a soil monitoring framework for all soils in the territory of EU Member States. Member States will be required to assess soil health, support soil resilience and identify and manage contaminated sites.
Regular soil assessments will be required and national registers will need to be established for potentially contaminated or contaminated sites.
Summary
The Soil Monitoring Law Directive (EU) 2025/2360 establishes a soil monitoring framework, which will apply to all soils in the territory of EU Member States.
This Directive will apply across all EU Member States, which are required to transpose it into national law by 17 December 2028.
What will change?
EU Member States will be required to designate competent authorities to deliver the obligations under the directive.
Soil monitoring obligations are centred on three areas:
Monitoring and Assessing Soil Health
Monitoring frameworks are required to be established for soil health, soil sealing and soil removal. Soil health descriptors, soil sealing and soil removal indicators defined in Annex I must be applied with reference to the targets within this Annex and operational trigger values.
Indicative lists of soil contaminants are to be established by the European Commission in cooperation with Member States. These contaminants will need to include pesticides, their metabolites and PFAS.
Monitoring and measurement methodologies in each Member State must be established against criteria in Part A to Annex II. Soil health assessments must be undertaken using monitoring data gathered every six years, with the first assessment due by 17 December 2031.
Data gathered during soil health monitoring and assessments must inform the development of programmes, plans, targets and measures required under Annex III.
Soil Resilience
Member States are required to support landowners and land managers to improve soil health and resilience via measures stated in Article 11.
Member States must regularly assess needs to improve soil health and resilience, engage with the public accordingly and assess expected effects on soil health and resilience in the context of programmes, plans, targets and measures required under Annex III.
Member States must ensure land take mitigation principles listed in Article 12 are applied to new soil sealing or new soil removal as part of land take at appropriate spatial levels within their territories.
Management of Contaminated Sites
Member States will be required to ensure that risks to human health and the environment from potentially contaminated sites and contaminated sites are identified, managed and kept at acceptable levels.
By 17 December 2029, Member States are required to identify and investigate potentially contaminated sites systematically. Site-specific risk assessments and management of contaminated sites must also be carried out by Member States by 17 December 2029. Annex V defines phases and principles for site-specific risk assessments of contamination.
Annex IV provides an indicative list of risk reduction measures for soil contamination that may be considered in conjunction with site-specific risk assessments of contamination. This includes soil remediation techniques, other risk reduction measures to reduce exposure, Best Available Techniques under the Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EU and measures after major accidents in line with the Seveso III Directive 2012/18/EU.
Registers of potentially contaminated sites and contaminated sites are required to be set up by 17 December 2029. By 17 December 2035, these registers must include all potentially contaminated sites existing on or before 16 December 2025. These registers must include information stated in Annex VI.
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