Soil quality and soil pollution: policy

International policy

The European Commission has developed a strategy for 'soil protection'. It covers soil pollution and soil acidification, as well as adverse effects on the soil caused by air pollution (deposition). The loss of soil as a resource (due to erosion, mass movements, floods, salinisation and metalling) is also an important subject at the European level, where the focus is on local and diffuse soil pollution and the progress of soil cleanup activities by the European Environment Agency (EEA).

Soil cleanup policy in the Netherlands

The basic aim of the Soil Cleanup Interim Measures Act of 1983 was to clean up historical soil pollution generated by landfill sites within a limited period of time (approximately ten years). As work progressed, the problem turned out to be larger and more financially burdensome than had been thought, since inner cities and former business locations also proved to be polluted. This new perspective, demands on available space in the Netherlands and the problem of the continuing spread of substances from the polluted sites resulted in a new policy (BEVER: beleidsvernieuwing bodemsanering) that aims to use the experience acquired to establish a faster, cost-effective and function-based approach with co-financing from stakeholders.

Basic policy principles

In the 3^rd and 4^th National Environmental Policy Plans (Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, 1997 and 2001), the government formulated the following basic principles for the approach to soil pollution:

a picture of the extent of all soil pollution must be established for the entire country by 2005;
severe historical pollution must be cleaned up or rendered manageable by 2023;
new soil pollution, in other words pollution generated mostly after 1987, must be remediated immediately.

Expenses of Soil Cleanup

According to calculations, the government budget (Soil Protection Act, Investment arrangements for urban renewal) can only cover one quarter of the expenses of the soil cleanup operation as a whole. The remaining three quarters have to come from the market. Government funds are expected to generate, in total, other funding amounting to four times as much. This is known as the 'multiplier of four'. The polluter is required to pay for cleanup operations when a large proportion (more than 20%) of the soil pollution has been generated after 1975.
The BEVER function-based approach is possible because of the reformulation of the cleanup objectives and the standardisation of soil-use values. Some of the government budget for soil cleanup is now directly linked to the budget for urban renewal (through the Urban Renewal Investment Fund (ISV)).

References

NN (1995-2002). Leidraad Bodembescherming. Sdu, The Hague.
Lijzen J.P.A., F.A. Swartjes, P.F. Otte and W.J. Willems (1999). Bodemgebruikswaarden, methodiek en uitwerking. RIVM (report no. 711 701 016), Bilthoven.
Lijzen, J.P.A., A.J. Baars, P.F. Otte, M. Rikken, F.A. Swartjes, E.M.J. Verbruggen and A.P. van Wezel (2001). Technisch-inhoudelijke evaluatie van de Interventiewaarden voor bodem/sediment en grondwater. Humane en ecotoxicologische risicobeoordeling en afleiding van risicogrenzen voor bodem, sediment en grondwater. RIVM (report no. 711 701 023), Bilthoven.
VROM (1995). Urgentie van bodemsanering: De handleiding. Sdu, The Hague.
VROM (1997). National Environmental Policy Plan 3. Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Hague.
VROM (1999). Van trechter naar zeef - Afwegingsproces saneringsdoelstelling. Sdu, The Hague.
VROM (2000). Circulaire streefwaarden en interventiewaarden bodemsanering dd 24-2-2000; the annexes to this document are also available.
VROM (2001). National Environmental Policy Plan 4. Working on sustainability: Where there's a will there's a world. Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment, The Hague.
VROM/RIVM (2002). Jaarverslag bodemsanering over 2001, de monitoringsrapportage, Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment/RIVM, The Hague/Bilthoven.
Regiegroep Bever (2001). Eindrapport BEVER/UPR. Sdu, The Hague. A summary is also available.
EEA (1999). Management of contaminated sites in Western Europe, European Environment Agency Topic Report No. 13/1999.
COM (2002). Towards a thematic strategy for soil protection, Communication of the Commission of the European Communities, Brussels COM(2002) 179 final.

Relevant sections and indicators in the Environmental Data Compendium

Relevant information outside of the Environmental Data Compendium

More information about soil pollution can be found on the site of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment.