Access to justice
1. Member States shall ensure that, in accordance with their national legal system, members of the public concerned have access to a review procedure before a court of law, or another independent and impartial body established by law, to challenge the substantive or procedural legality of the soil health assessment, the measures taken pursuant to this Directive and any failures to act of the competent authorities, provided that one of the following conditions is met:
(a)
they have a sufficient interest;
(b)
they maintain the impairment of a right, where administrative procedural law of a Member State requires such impairment as a precondition.
Member States shall determine what constitutes a sufficient interest and impairment of a right, and shall do so consistently with the objective of providing the public with wide access to justice. To that end, the interest of any non-governmental organisation promoting environmental protection and meeting any requirements under national law shall be deemed sufficient for the purposes of the first subparagraph, point (a). Such organisations shall also be deemed to have rights capable of being impaired for the purposes of the first subparagraph, point (b).
2. Standing in the review procedure shall not be conditional on the role that the member of the public concerned played during a participatory phase of the decision-making procedures under this Directive.
3. The review procedure shall be fair, equitable, timely and not prohibitively expensive, and shall provide adequate and effective redress mechanisms, including injunctive relief as appropriate.
Support by the Commission
1. The Commission shall provide Member States with the necessary support, assistance and capacity building in order to help them carry out their obligations under this Directive. In particular, the Commission shall, in cooperation with the Member States, draw up documents and develop scientific tools that Member States may use to facilitate them in:
(a)
establishing a soil monitoring framework and determining the number and location of sampling points pursuant to Article 9(1) and (2) and Annex II, Part A, point 1;
(b)
setting the non-binding sustainable target values and operational trigger values for the soil descriptors pursuant to Article 7(2) and Annex I, Parts A and B;
(c)
setting their list of organic contaminants to be monitored pursuant to Article 7(3) and Annex I, Part B;
(d)
assessing the areas not at risk of salinisation that can be excluded from the measurements of electrical conductivity pursuant to Article 9(3), third subparagraph, and Annex I, Part A;
(e)
carrying out in situ sampling of soil descriptors in accordance with Article 9(3), fourth subparagraph and Annex II, Part A, point 2;
(f)
determining the values of the soil sealing and soil removal indicators pursuant to Article 9(5) and in accordance with Annex II, Part C;
(g)
determining or estimating the values of the soil descriptors pursuant to Article 9(6) and Annex II, Part B;
(h)
identifying and assessing any critical loss of ecosystem services and the impact of soil sealing and soil removal on the loss of ecosystem services pursuant to Article 10(3);
(i)
identifying potentially contaminated sites and setting a list of potentially contaminating activities pursuant to Article 14;
(j)
laying down the specific methodology for the site-specific risk assessment of contaminated sites, taking into account common practices, methodologies and toxicological data pursuant to Article 16; and
(k)
providing, at local level, information on measures and practices to increase soil resilience pursuant to Article 11(1), point (d), by providing and regularly updating a repository of knowledge on soil resilience containing practical information on soil management practices.
2. The documents and scientific tools referred to in paragraph 1 shall be drawn up and developed within the following time-limits:
(a)
as regards point (a), by 17 December 2026;
(b)
as regards points (b), (c), (e) and (j), by 17 June 2027;
(c)
as regards point (i), by 17 December 2027;
(d)
as regards points (d), (f) and (g), by 17 December 2028;
(e)
as regards point (h), by 17 December 2029.
3. The Commission shall organise regular exchanges of information, experience and best practices between Member States and, where relevant, other stakeholders on the application of this Directive. The first exchange shall take place by 17 March 2026.
The Commission shall publish the results of the exchanges of information, experience and best practices referred to in the first subparagraph and, where relevant, provide recommendations or guidelines to Member States.
4. The Commission shall facilitate cooperation between Member States to ensure, where appropriate, that competent authorities responsible for neighbouring soil districts in which there are transboundary effects on soil, comparable soil types or land uses across the soil-district border, exchange best practices, and strive to achieve a coherent approach in the application of this Directive.
Evaluation and review
1. By 17 June 2033, the Commission shall carry out an evaluation of this Directive to assess the progress made towards achieving its objectives and the need to amend it in order to set more specific requirements to achieve its objectives. That evaluation shall take into account, inter alia, the following elements:
(a)
the experience gained through the implementation of this Directive;
(b)
the data and information referred to in Article 19;
(c)
relevant scientific and analytical data, including results from research projects funded by the Union;
(d)
an analysis of the remaining progress to be made to achieve healthy soils by 2050;
(e)
an analysis of the effectiveness of the support provided by Member States to improve soil health and soil resilience;
(f)
an analysis of the possible need to adapt to scientific and technical progress the provisions of this Directive, in particular regarding the following items:
(i)
the definition of healthy soils;
(ii)
the establishment of criteria for soil descriptors listed in Annex I, Part C, and soil sealing and soil removal indicators listed in Annex I, Part D;
(iii)
the addition of new soil descriptors for monitoring purposes or the adjustment of existing soil descriptors and criteria for healthy soil condition listed in Annex I;
(iv)
the non-binding sustainable target values and operational trigger values for the soil descriptors pursuant to Article 7(2) and Annex I, Parts A and B, taking into account, inter alia, the objective of ensuring a level playing field within the internal market;
(v)
the possibility of establishing a higher percentage of a subset of sampling points chosen for the analysis of the soil biodiversity descriptors referred to in Annex I, Part C, based on the results of the first monitoring cycle.
2. The Commission shall present a report on the main findings of the evaluation referred to in paragraph 1 to the European Parliament, to the Council, to the European Economic and Social Committee and to the Committee of the Regions, accompanied, if appropriate, by a legislative proposal.
Transposition
1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 17 December 2028. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof.
When Member States adopt those measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.
2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main measures of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive. The communication of the non-binding sustainable target values and operational trigger values for soil descriptors listed in Annex I shall be accompanied by a justification.
Entry into force
This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union .
Addressees
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
