Management of abandoned and contaminated land - Environmental Deterioration and Contamination: Problems and their Management - page 173

1986). This directive also aims at establishing certain initial community measures in
connection with soil protection. The directive on sewage sludge primarily warns at the
soil protection from some toxic metals (Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Zn, Hg, Cr) which may be
toxic to plants and also to humans through their presence in crops and it lays down
mandatory limit values for these elements in the soil and in sewage sludge which may
be used on the land. The responsibility of the member states is to determine the detailed
investigations, characterize the soil and sewage sludge. The member states should lay
down maximum quantities of sludge expressed in tonnes of dry matter which may be
applied to the soil per unit of area per year considering the limit values of the heavy
metal concentration.
The Nitrate Directive (1991) concerning the protection of waters against pollution
caused by nitrates from agricultural sources seeks to reduce or prevent the nitrate
pollution of water caused by the application and storage of inorganic fertilizer and
manure on farmland. It sets out the criteria system for identifying the vulnerable zones
and the framework for actions targeting good agricultural practice and protection of
vulnerable zones (Directive 91/676/EEC).
The IPPC Directive (2008) concerning the integrated pollution prevention and
control also belongs to those directives which dispose of the soil protection. The pur-
pose of this directive is integrated into prevention and control of pollution arising from
human activities. It lays down measures designed to prevent or, where that is not prac-
ticable, reduce emissions in the air, water and soil from the above mentioned activities,
including measures concerning waste.
The Directive 2006/118/EC on the protection of groundwater against pollution
and deterioration (Groundwater, 2006) and the Directive on Environmental Liability
(2004) with regard to the prevention and remediation of environmental damage also
concern soil protection.
The Directive 2008/99/EC on the protection of the environment through crimi-
nal law obliges the member states to provide for criminal penalties in their national
legislation in respect of serious infringements of provisions of community law on the
protection of the environment (Criminal Law, 2008).

3 RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ON SOIL AT EU LEVEL

K. Gruiz
The preparatory work of the framework directive included gathering information on
European soils and their environmental status. Working groups worked on erosion,
organic matter, contamination, soil monitoring and necessary research with the final
outcome of in-depth reports, published by ECE (2013) in the form of reports by Van-
Camp et al . (2004). Some very important facts were laid down in the preparatory
studies, such as:

- Soil is a nonrenewable natural resource;

- It performs crucial ecological, social and economic functions;

- Soils are being increasingly degraded or irreversibly lost across the EU;

- Estimated costs of soil degradation reach up to 38 billion per year;

a