Bernard Vanheusden

Recent Developments in European Policy Regarding Brownfield Remediation

The presence of brownfields has become a major soil-related problem the world over. Brownfields are found not only in the United States but in every industrialized country and region. In the European Union (EU), a consensus is growing that the redevelopment of former industrial sites can play an important role in the revitalization of certain neighborhoods and areas and in the creation of new industrial sites. This article offers a survey of the recent developments in the European policy regarding brownfield remediation. The best-known attempt for an overall framework law for soil is the Proposal for a Soil Framework Directive. Unexpectedly, this proposal was blocked in 2007 by several countries and seems to be now at a dead end. However, the absence of a community legislation focused specifically on soil protection does not mean that there are no other relevant legal documents regarding the remediation of brownfields. On the contrary, for example, the Environmental Liability Directive is of prime importance for brownfield remediation throughout Europe. Other relevant and interesting legal documents are the Environmental Crime Directive, the European Community guidelines on state aid for environmental protection, and the new Waste Framework Directive. This legal framework is constantly evolving. Therefore, it is important to follow up this development. Brownfield redevelopment in the EU will be a major challenge for policy makers in the near future.

Are incentives for Brownfield regeneration sustainable? A comparative survey

Reusing brownfields for new purposes is frequently not enabled by the economic, environmental and social barriers present at the site. Therefore, the European Commission and its Member States try to intervene by using different financial and legal incentives. This contribution presents the existing incentives on European Union level, in Germany, the UK, and Belgium, discusses the effects and gaps, and makes suggestions for more effective instruments for the promotion of sustainable brownfield regeneration. The European incentives are compared to the existing financial and legal incentives in the US.

The Implementation of 'Access and Benefit-sharing' in Five EU Member States: The Achievements and Deficiencies of the Nagoya Protocol and the EU Regulation 511/2014

This article is based on legal support that the authors performed in 2015–2016 for the Flemish Government. The authors would like to thank the Flemish Government.

Phytoremediation and the Legal Study of Soil, Animals and Plants

Soils are under increasing environmental pressure in every country across the globe. This pressure is mainly driven by human activities, such as agricultural and forestry practices, industrial activities, tourism and urban development. Over recent decades, there has been a significant increase in the rate of soil degradation, with no sign of amelioration. The main threats to which soils are subject are erosion, chemical contamination, compaction, biodiversity loss, sealing, landslides and flooding. Soils are a resource of common concern both within and between nations, and failure to protect them will undermine ecological and economic sustainability. Soil degradation has substantial impacts on other areas of common interest such as water quality and quantity, climate change, biological diversity, human health, and, in particular, food and feed safety and food security.

The Relation between Spatial Planning Law and Soil Remediation Law

This contribution looks at the relation between spatial planning law and soil remediation law when a contaminated site is being developed. The relation between both legal fields clearly emerges when the land use of the site must be modified in function of the future land use in view. This will have an impact on the remediation criterion as well as on the remediation objective. Another point of contact is the link between a soil remediation and a town planning permit. A good harmony between the spatial planning law and the soil remediation law is essential for the development of a contaminated site. After a brief European perspective, the contribution mainly focuses as a case study on the situation in the Flemish Region (Belgium).

The Relevance of Environmental Justice for the Legal Framework in the European Union

Environmental justice is a relatively new and unknown notion in European environmental law. The notion originally comes from the US. Environmental justice is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people. The protection of environmental justice plays a prominent role in the US environmental policy. This contribution examines, after a brief history of environmental justice, the relevance of environmental justice for the legal framework in the EU. It includes the results of an empirical research and a test of the EU legal framework. It concludes that environmental justice is not yet something that goes without saying within the EU.