Soil Monitoring and Resilience (Soil Monitoring Law)

Tabled by Norbert Lins

Removed: SUSTAINABLE SOIL MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES The following principles shall apply: (a) avoid leaving soil bare by establishing and maintaining vegetative soil cover, especially during environmentally sensitive periods; (b) minimise physical soil disturbance; (c) avoid inputs or release of substances into soil that may harm human health or the environment, or degrade soil health; (d) ensure that machinery use is adapted to the strength of the soil, and that the number and frequency of operations on soils are limited so that they do not compromise soil health; (e) when fertilization is applied, ensure adaptation to the needs of the plant and trees at the given location and in the given period, and to the condition of soil and prioritize circular solutions that enrich the organic content; (f) in case of irrigation, maximise efficiency of irrigation systems and irrigation management and ensure that when recycled wastewater is used, the water quality meets the requirements set out in Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2020/741 of the European Parliament and of the Council108 and when water from other sources is used, it does not degrade soil health; (g) ensure soil protection by the creation and maintenance of adequate landscape features at the landscape level;109 (h) use site-adapted species in the cultivation of crops, plants or trees where this can prevent soil degradation or contribute to improving soil health, also taking into consideration the adaptation to climate change; (i) ensure optimised water levels in organic soils so that the structure and composition of such soils are not negatively affected;110 (j) in the case of crop cultivation, ensure crop rotation and crop diversity, taking into consideration different crop families, root systems, water and nutrient needs, and integrated pest management; (k) adapt livestock movement and grazing time, taking into consideration animal types and stocking density, so that soil health is not compromised and the soil's capacity to provide forage is not reduced; (l) in case of known disproportionate loss of one or several functions that substantially reduce the soils capacity to provide ecosystem services, apply targeted measures to regenerate those soil functions. 108 Regulation (EU) 2020/741 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 2020 on minimum requirements for water reuse (OJ L 177, 5.6.2020, p. 32). 109 This principle does not apply to forest soils 110 This principle does not apply to urban soils Added: deleted

Wording as published by the EP, in English. PE760.536