The Prospects of Environmental Assessment, Rating, and Quality Management of Soils and Lands

Abstract

The most promising areas of ecological assessment, regulation, and quality management of soils and lands include in-depth study of their ecological functions and the role of the anthropogenic factor in the formation of a lands’ natural complex established within the boundaries of specific land plots, considering the natural conditions, type of natural-resource use management, and direct–inverse relationships with adjoining environmental segments; study of natural relations between the soil cover and subsurface geological layers; determination of permissible changes in soil quality due to petroleum contamination and the forest and peat harvesting taking into account the prospects of natural self-repair (regeneration) of landscapes; study of direct and inverse relationships among soils, aquatic environments, and semi-aquatic landscapes exposed to contamination of lands; identification of functional relationship between the state of soils and the quality of atmospheric air; and insight into aspects of soil interface with other environmental compartments and the production and consumption waste. Analysis of the existing laws aimed at protecting soil as an environmental compartment suggests that the structure of environmental-protection legislation that incorporates in its framework the federal laws regulating the protection of environmental compartments contains gaps, and so a soil-protection law needs to be developed.