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ANNEX B - POLICIES IN PLACE FOR SOIL PROTECTION

Land Use and Management

B.1 The way soil is used and managed influences the quality of land, water and air environments as well as biodiversity. Although only approximately 25% of Scotland's soils are cultivated, most of Scotland land cover is under some form of agricultural or forestry management. Agricultural and forestry land use has considerable potential to affect soil erosion, soil organic matter, habitats and biodiversity depending on the type of farming as well as the nature of the soil and weather conditions, vegetative cover and land management practices.

B.2 The 2003 Common Agriculture Policy reform decoupled agricultural support from production, with increase emphasis on rural development, environmental benefit, animal health and welfare and food safety. Farmers now receive Single Farm Payments provided they meet cross-compliance requirements which include Statutory Management Requirements as well as Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions ( GAEC), which include a number of soil protection measures (table B.1).

Good Agricultural and Environmental Condition ( GAEC) relating to soil

Table B.1 Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions

B.3 Land managers may also qualify for payments in recognition of work done to deliver additional public benefits such as environmental enhancement, better recreational access or improved animal health and welfare. Scotland has pioneered the concept of Rural Development Contracts to deliver different types of payment and this is further developed in the Scotland Rural Development Programme for 2007-2013. A number of the measures encouraged through Rural Development Contracts have positive implications for air, land and water. Specific measures for soils include testing soil, nutrient planning, creating wetlands, converting arable land to grassland and leaving uncultivated buffer strips alongside watercourses to minimise diffuse pollution of water and to retain eroded soil in the field. It is also important to note that many measures will have cross-cutting benefits for a number of environmental concerns, e.g. measures put in place to combat diffuse pollution may also benefit climate change mitigation or soils, as they often focus on reduction of erosion and surface water run-off and minimising fertiliser loss. Equally, measures aiming to protect and enhance peatlands for biodiversity or conservation reasons, will ultimately have benefits in climate change mitigation, and in protecting Scotland's peat resource.

B.4 The Prevention of Environmental Pollution from Agricultural Activity ( PEPFAA) Code ¹⁹ provides practical guidance to help farmers minimise the risk of pollution and comply with CAP requirements. The 4 Point Plan ²⁰ and Farm Soils Plan ²¹ provide straightforward guidance for land managers on ways to minimise pollution and benefit businesses through good soil management.

B.5 The UK Forestry Standard ²² ( UKFS) and its supporting guidelines sets out the framework for sustainable management of all forests and woodland in the UK. The Standard sets out the legal requirements and sets the standards for good forest practice for sustainable forest management and along with the associated guidelines is currently undergoing comprehensive review. The updated Forest and Soils Guidelines will identify the importance of forest soils and outlines good practice requirements to protect and enhance forest soils through sustainable forest management practices considering its interactions with water, biodiversity, and air quality.

B.6 The UKFS underpins the Scottish Forestry Strategy (2006) ( SFS) which sets out a strategic framework for the long-term development of forestry in Scotland. The SFS recognises the importance of protecting and enhancing Scotland's soils resource and outlines the key actions that the forest industry and its partners need to take achieve this.

B.7 The draft Forestry Commission Scotland Climate Change Action Plan 2008 - 2010 (which is currently out for consultation) describes what FCS will do to increase the response and contribution of Scottish Forestry to the challenges of climate change. It focuses on what needs to be done both as early actions and to increase preparedness. Its supporting forestry guidelines sets out the framework for sustainable management of all forests and woodland in the UK. It identifies legal requirements/compliance levels and good forest practices, fully recognising the importance of environmental quality. The review of the Forestry Guidelines series (late 2008) includes an updated of the Forest and Soils Guidelines development to address the protection of soils dealing with the effects of operations on the soil itself and its interactions with biodiversity and water quality.

B.8 Sewage sludge use in agriculture is governed by the Sewage Sludge Directive (86/278/EEC) which has been transposed into national legislation through the Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations 1989 (as amended in 1990), complemented by a Code of Practice for Agricultural Use of Sewage Sludge 1996. It seeks to encourage the use of sewage sludge in agriculture and to regulate its use in such a way as to prevent harmful effects on soil, vegetation, animals and man.

B.9 The Scottish Government strongly supports recovery of organic materials to land, rather than disposal. It envisages that recovery to land will continue to be a vital route for recovery of waste: indeed, to reach our target of 70% recycling and composting of municipal waste by 2025 it is clear that a great deal more compost, in particular, will have to be used in future. It is important to realise, however, that wastes are only a small fraction of organic materials going to land. Some 90% of all organic material going to land in Scotland is livestock manure and slurry, used in accordance with good agricultural practice.

Water Quality & Flooding

B.10 The Water Framework Directive (2001/60/EEC) has introduced the most important changes to Scottish legislation protecting the water environment since 1974 when the Control of Pollution Act was passed. It has extended environmental protection for point and diffuse sources of pollution as well as impacts associated with water abstractions, dams and engineering work.

B.11 Protection of soils is closely linked to the protection and improvement of Scotland's water environment. The presence of suspended sediments and turbidity, through soil erosion, in watercourses can seriously diminish water quality and can damage aquatic life, including salmon spawning grounds. Soil from farmland is often rich in nutrients such as phosphates (P compounds), which are the critical factor for eutrophication in fresh water.

B.12 The Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 ( CAR), as amended, now provide controls to protect banksides from erosion through the use of General Binding Rules ( GBRs). The Water Environment (Diffuse Pollution) (Scotland) Regulations (2008), which has amended CAR, apply to rural land use activities; these aim to protect surface waters including wetlands and groundwater from the effects of diffuse pollution.

B.13 Under CAR discharges (run-off) from new developments both during and following construction, will generally be required to be drained by a Sustainable Drainage System ( SUDS). The main driver for this provision is the control of diffuse pollution. SUDS are designed to slow flows and remove pollutants; and attenuation should minimise run-off losses and can thus facilitate the settling of soil.

B.14 The Scottish Government consultation on a Flooding Bill ²³ considers the modernisation of the flood risk management system in Scotland which will shift the emphasis to a catchment focused approached to managing flood risk and clarify the roles and responsibility to create a fully integrated approach to flood management. The legislation will also transpose the EC Floods Directive which came into force in December 2007. There is a strong interrelation between soil deterioration and the increased number of extreme floods as soils sealing, soil compaction and capping exacerbates enhance flooding as the capability of soils to absorb water decreases and water runs off more quickly. Appropriate soil management therefore is a central plank for the development of a sustainable approach to flood risk management.

Conservation & Biodiversity & Geodiversity

B.15 The Scottish Biodiversity StrategyIt's In Your Hands²⁴ presents a 25 year vision and framework for action to protect Scotland's biodiversity. Delivery of the strategy includes a focus on maintaining healthy and productive ecosystems, developing actions to sustain and support the complex web of conditions and organisms that contribute to productive soils.

B.16 Around 15% of Scotland is covered by national and international designations, which include National Scenic Areas, Sites of Special Scientific Interest, National Nature Reserves, Biosphere Reserves and Natura 2000, Ramsar and World Heritage Sites. When including National Parks and local designations such as 'Local Landscape Areas ( LLAs)' and 'Local Nature Conservation Areas ( LNCAs)' over _ of Scotland is under some level of protection for its natural heritage, biodiversity or landscape and geodiversity values. Although soil itself is often not directly protected under such designations, management agreements and operations often offer soil protection in order to protect and enhance the biodiversity, geodiversity and landforms values of the sites.

Pollution

B.17 Due to the transboundary nature of airborne pollutants causing acidification & eutrophication the best means of tackling the problem is through concerted action across Europe. The main policy tools to reduce soil acidification and eutrophication are the National Emission Ceilings Directive ( NECD, 2001/81/EC) and the Protocols under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe ( UNECE) Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution.

B.18 The NECD sets ceilings for each Member State for emissions within their boundaries of: sulphur dioxide ( SO2); nitrogen oxides ( NOx), volatile organic compounds ( VOCs) and ammonia ( NH3). These 4 pollutants are primarily responsible for acidification, eutrophication, and ground-level ozone. The UK's main policies and measures for achieving the air quality obligations for health and ecosystems are set out in the Air Quality Strategy for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Both national and European measures will contribute to reducing the emissions of pollutants causing soil acidification and eutrophication.

B.19 The Contaminated Land Regime, established under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 places a duty on local authorities, as the primary regulators, to carry out inspections for the purpose of identifying contaminated land within their areas and to take action to secure its remediation. Contaminated land is land which appears to the enforcing authority to be in such a condition that there is a significant risk of harm to human health or the wider environment. The main objective of the contaminated land regime is to provide an improved system for the identification and remediation of land where contamination is causing, or is likely to cause, such risks, assessed in the context of the current use and circumstances of the land. In this way the regime plays an important role in cleaning up historically contaminated soils, but it is not designed to prevent new contamination. There are a range of other measures specifically aimed at achieving this, most significantly Pollution Prevention and Control ( PPC) and Waste Management Licensing, which are regulated by SEPA. SEPA's other responsibilities in relation to contaminated land consist of duties to act as the enforcing authority, securing remediation as land which is designated as a special site. SEPA also maintain a public register of special sites, and publishes a national report of the state of contaminated land.

Cultural Heritage

B.20 Historic Scotland's policy documents Scottish Historic Environment Policy ( SHEP) series "preserve in situ" identify that the historic environment encompasses built heritage features (ancient monuments, archaeological sites and landscapes, historic buildings, townscapes, parks, gardens and designed landscapes, as well as marine heritage) and the context or setting in which they sit, and the patterns of past use, in landscapes and within the soil, and also in our towns, villages and streets.

B.21 Present policies for the historic environment in Scotland address soil as the neutral matrix in which artefacts and environmental evidence are embedded, over and into which buildings and sites are constructed, and which in time comes to seal sites which have been destroyed or decayed.

Planning

B.22 The re-use of brownfield land is promoted in a number of National Planning Policies as well as in the development plans prepared by planning authorities. Nevertheless some development on green field sites is unavoidable if Scotland is to meet the demand for development, especially housing, taking into account the need for sustainable economic growth.

B.23 The planning system also provides significant protection to the soil resource through policies aimed at preventing development of a wide range of areas:

• parks, open spaces and playing fields;
• green belts and regional parks;
• areas designated nationally for their natural heritage value (including Sites of Special Scientific Interest and National Scenic Areas)
• areas designated locally for their natural heritage value (including areas of great landscape value and local nature reserves).

B.24 Planning also controls development in residential gardens and is a major means of delivering sustainable urban drainage systems ( SUDS). Two of the main instruments used by the planning system to identify whether a proposal is likely to have significant environmental effects on soil are Environmental Impact Assessments (for specified individual projects) and Strategic Environmental Assessments for planning authorities' development plans. EIA and SEA are also applicable to projects, plans and strategies outwith the planning system.

Environmental Assessment

B.25 The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 ensures that all public plans, programmes and strategies that are likely to have significant environmental effects, if implemented, are subject to environmental assessment. The findings of that assessment must be outlined to the public within a consultation, along with any measures to prevent, reduce and as fully as possible offset significant adverse effects and to consider reasonable alternatives, where relevant. Strategic Environmental Assessment ( SEA) and its toolkit ²⁵ ensures better consideration of the environment in the preparation of plans, programmes and strategies, which can in turn result in fewer unforeseen environmental impacts.

B.26 In both types of assessment, the likely impacts on soils are a consideration. As consultation is at the heart of SEA, it ensures that those that are affected by, likely to be affected by or having an interest in a plan, programme or strategy, are provided with an opportunity to have a meaningful and transparent input into the decision making process.

Climate Change

B.27 The then Scottish Executive's response to climate change, Scotland's Climate Change Programme Changing Our Ways²⁶ was published in March 2006. The programme recognised the important role soils play in the context of climate change, both in relation to mitigation and adaptation. A new programme will be required to deliver the more ambitious objectives proposed for inclusion in a Scottish Climate Change Bill expected to be introduced to the Scottish Parliament by the end of 2008.

Figure 5.2 Scottish Government strategic research: Objective 8: Protecting the Nation's soils - Work Packages 3.2 and 3.3. ( http://www.programme3.net/)

The Scottish Climate Change Bill¹⁴ aims to create a long-term framework for the current and successive administrations in Scotland to ensure that emissions will be reduced by 80% by 2050. Whilst it is not intended to allocate sector specific targets for reducing emissions, it is intended that the Bill will assist in realising the mitigation potential for all sectors, including emissions from soils. Scotland's Climate Change Adaptation Framework will identify strategic principles and priority actions as a means of providing leadership, guidance and consistency of approach to government and non-government decision-makers. The Framework will also identify roles and responsibilities for public and private decision makers across Scotland and outline the levels of risk being applied to manage climate change. The Framework will be consulted on over Summer 2008. Because of the complex interactions between soils and climate as set out in Chapter 4, the above climate change policies all recognise that protecting soils is an important way of combating climate change.

Research

B.28 Strategic soils research is funded by the Scottish Government as part of its long-term research programme on environment, land use and rural stewardship which runs over 5 years to 2010 ^b. Part of this programme focuses on "Protecting the Nation's Soils", and comprises two inter-related approaches (Figure 5.2) addressing assessment and management of the soil resource of Scotland. The programme is expected to provide the following overall outcomes:

• Up-dated status of quality and trends in Scotland's soil resource
• Improved understanding of cycling of greenhouse gases and feedbacks to drivers of climate change
• New tools and methods to assess soil quality, including its biodiversity
• Maps showing which areas of soils are under threat
• Evaluations of socio-economic value of soil and implications of threats to it.

B.29 In addition Scottish Government funds specific projects to provide evidence in the short term on important aspects like carbon release from peaty soils under various climate and land use scenarios. Similarly, Scotland is connecting with soil research agendas at UK and European level.

B.30 Research outcomes will make an important contribution to our understanding of fundamental soil processes and will provide vital evidence for policy development.

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