The upcoming European Soil Monitoring Law: An effective instrument for the protection of terrestrial ecosystems?

Soils are a precious resource consistently placed under several threats and urgently in need of protection within a regulatory framework at the European level. Soils are central to the provision of environmental services as well as human existence on earth. The need to protect soil has been identified by several recent European strategies and fortunately, a specific European regulation for soil protection is on the way—the European Soil Monitoring Law (formerly: Soil Health Law). However, efforts need to ensure that the upcoming Soil Monitoring Law closes gaps between existing regulations for chemicals and acknowledges current European strategies for environmental protection and sustainability. This brief communication started from a fruitful discussion among SETAC Global Soils Interest Group members on a recent public consultation on the newly proposed Soil Monitoring Law of the European Commission and highlights critical points focusing on the chemical pollution of soils. We emphasize urgent needs such as the essential definition of a "healthy state" of soils; the implementation of a suitable set of indicators and quality standards for the description of physical, chemical, and biological states of soils; the enforcement of the "polluter‐pays" principle; and the establishment of a Europe‐wide monitoring program. Results from monitoring need to be fed back into regulatory frameworks, including the regulation of chemicals. Guidance documents for the risk assessment of chemicals are outdated and need to be updated. Finally, actions need to be taken to foster healthy soils, stop biodiversity decline, and ensure the functioning of ecosystem services for future generations. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:316–321. © 2023 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC). Key Points: It must be ensured that the upcoming Soil Monitoring Law closes gaps between existing regulations for chemicals and acknowledges current European strategies for environmental protection and sustainability.Urgent needs must be addressed such as the essential definition of a "healthy state" of soils and the implementation, monitoring, and assessment of a suitable set of indicators and quality standards for the description of physical, chemical, and biological states of soils.Chemical substances with high priority for soils need to be identified and thresholds for those substances need to be defined, monitored, and assessed.We urgently need a holistic approach that bridges upstream regulations, including the "one substance—one assessment principle" on chemicals and the downstream upcoming soil regulation, which should also tackle mixtures of chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]