Status of Local Soil Contamination in Europe and outlook

Ana PAYA PEREZEuropean Commission, Joint Research Centre

Session 1- Regulation, management approaches, financing and best practices

20 September 2018

RemTech Expo 2018 (19, 20, 21 Settembre) FerraraFierewww.remtechexpo.com

Setting the scene

• No comprehensive EU soil legislation: soil protection isaddressed partly by other EU policies

• Absence of EU standards: MS apply their own risk approach &some MS have a solid legal basis on soil contamination whileothers do not have national legislation

• Inventory of soil-related policies at EU and national level in2015 launched by the Commission

– Review of 35 EU and 671 national policy instruments acrossEU-28 Member States

– Gap analysis by clusters

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/soil/pdf/Soil_inventory_report.pdf

EU soil policy gaps: general findings

• In absence of comprehensive soil legislation, soil is not subject to a coherent set of rules in the EU. No binding EU targets, but some MS have national values.

• Protection and sustainable use of soil is scattered in different Community policies contributing in various degrees to soil protection.

• Lack of common definitions across EU policies

• Some definitions at global level (Sustainable Soil Management, LDN) but not binding and not integrated in EU policies

• No obligation to monitor contaminants

EU Policy gaps – Soil local contamination

• No coordinated approach to set baselines (except IED), references, targets or priorities

• Historical activities not covered – IPCC 1996, IED and ELD 2007 - IED does not cover small installations

• No EU approach for orphan sites

• No unified approach to identify (potentially) contaminated sites

• Regional funds (ERDF, Cohesion fund) under certain conditions & national funding according to EU state aid guidelines

• No coherent set of rules defining liability, responsibilities, thresholds and monitoring

What next?

Invitation to Open Call

Two Working Groups

1. Working Group “for developing feasible and regionally contextualized guidelines formeasuring, mapping, monitoring and reporting on soil pollution” (WG 1);

2. Working Group “to create a database on the best available techniques for themanagement and remediation of polluted soils according to land use and edapho-climatic conditions, that can be adapted locally to assess and monitor soil pollution andto support management decisions” (WG 2).

Before 1st October 2018 Email: GSOP18@fao.orgNatalia.RodriguezEugenio@fao.org

• Only few MS address contamination in holistic and systematic way

• Some MS have very comprehensive legislation, others have no legislation beyond EU policies

• No systematic or binding rules to identify historical contaminated sites

• Some MS have no register, others have difficulties to introduce it or to update it regularly

• Different approaches to identify, investigate, remediate and prioritize sites

• Standards used to assess risks very variable (screening, guidance, intervention values etc.)

MS Policy gaps – Soil local contamination

Indicator Progress in the management

of contaminated sites in Europe

Summarises the actual status of soil contamination and highlightingthe differences between countries.

1. What is the extent of soil contamination?

2. How is Europe dealing with soil contamination? How much progress has been achieved in the management and control of local soil contamination?

3. Which sectors contribute most to soil contamination?

4. Which are the main contaminants affecting soil and groundwater in and around contaminated sites?

5. How much is being spent on cleaning-up soil contamination? How much of the public budget is being used?

Coverage of the survey 31 replying countries of the 39 surveyed countries with their membership (EU, EEA, EEA cooperating

countries in the West Balkans).

Coverage of the survey in 39 European countries

Countries surveyed Total

Countries 31 39

Population (Million inhabitants) 513,4 621,2

Total surface area (thousands of km2) 4 869,6 5 994,9

Artificial surface (thousands of km2) 217,7 239,1

Surveyed of total population 83 % 100 %

Surveyed of total artificial surface 91 % 100 %

1. What is the extent of soil contamination?

How much progress has been achieved in the management and

control of local soil contamination?

• 2,8 million sites have been estimated where polluting activities have taken place considering the artificial surface.

• 694 000 registered sites where polluting activities took/are taking place in national and regional inventories of replying countries;

• more than 235 000 sites have been remediated.

• Efforts focused on investigation and remediation of sites where polluting activities took/are taking place due to many countries already have an accurate inventory.

How much progress has been achieved in the management and control of local soil

contamination? (EU 28)

Identification

•Only 13 countries have estimated the number of contaminated sites

• 45% of estimated contaminated sites are already identified

Investigation

170 000 sites are in need of detailed investigation

125 000 of registered sites need remediation

More than 120 000 sites investigated where no remediation needed

Remediation

•Near 14 400 sites under remediation

•more than 63 000 sites remediated

How much progress has been achieved in the management and

control of local soil contamination?

Waste disposal and treatment (38%)

Industrial & commercial activities (34%) represents almost 2/3 of

the local contamination

Which sectors contribute mostThe most

frequently reported

sources are

mining activities,

metal industries

and gasoline

stations

However, the range

of polluting

activities varies

considerably from

country to country.

Remediation techniques

Off-site techniques (dig-and-dump) still seems tobe the most commonly used → negative impact onthe soil ecosystem

Move towards in-situ remediation, environmentallyfriendly and economically-feasible techniques.

How much is being spent on cleaning-up soil

contamination? How much of the public budget is

being used?

Ratio between private and public investment account for 50-50

50% 32%

REFERENCES

20182017

2014

EC report on the implementation of the

Soil Thematic Strategy and ongoing activities

COM(2012) 46, 13.2.2012 http://ec.europa.eu/environment/soil/three_en.htm

JRC report on 'The state of soils in Europe' EUR 25186 EN, February 2012

http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/jrc/downloads/jrc_reference_report_2012_02_soil.pdf

Evaluation of expenditures and jobs for addressing soil contamination in Member States, Ernst & Young report to the European Commission, February 2013

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/soil/pdf/Soil_contamination_expenditure_jobs.pdf

EUROPEAN SOIL PORTAL

http://ESDAC.jrc.ec.europa.eu/

2016

What next?

Invitation to Open Call

Two Working Groups

1. Working Group “for developing feasible and regionally contextualized guidelines for

measuring, mapping, monitoring and reporting on soil pollution” (WG 1);

2. Working Group “to create a database on the best available techniques for themanagement and remediation of polluted soils according to land use and edapho-climatic conditions, that can be adapted locally to assess and monitor soil pollution and

to support management decisions” (WG 2).

Before 1st October 2018 Email: GSOP18@fao.orgNatalia.RodriguezEugenio@fao.org

Thanks to the commitment of the EIONET NRC Soil Ad-hoc Working Group

on Contaminated Sites and Brownfields

Representatives Ad-Hoc WG on Contaminated Sites

and BrownfieldsCountry

Dietmar Mueller-Grabher Austria

Johan Ceenaeme Belgium/Flanders

Esther Goidts Belgium/Wallonia

Christoph Reusser Switzerland

Antonio Callaba de Roa Spain

Milan Sanka Czech Republic

Veronique Antoni France

Antonella Vecchio

Marco FalconiItaly

Andreja Steinberger Croatia

Sophie Capus Luxembourg

Frank Swartjes Netherlands

Kine Martinsen Norway

Jorge Santos Garcia Portugal

Dragana Vidojevic Serbia

Bernarda Podlipnik Slovenia

Katarina Paluchova Slovakia

Christian Andersen Denmark

David Middleton United Kingdom

Borisslava Borissova Bulgaria

Outi Pyy Finland

Mina Patsalidou Cyprus

Olav Ojala Estonia

EC-Joint Research Centre / European Soil Data Centre

http://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu

e-mail : ana.paya-perez@ec.europa.eu

Thanks for your attention