Article 3 — Definitions

For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply: (1) soil means the top layer of the Earth’s crust, situated between the bedrock or the parent material and the land surface, and which is composed of mineral particles, organic matter, water, air and living organisms; (2) ecosystem means a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment, interacting as a functional unit; (3) ecosystem services means the direct or indirect contributions of ecosystems to the environmental, economic, social, cultural and other benefits that people derive from those ecosystems; (4) soil biodiversity means the variation in soil life, from genes to communities of organisms, and the ecological complexes of which they are part, that is complexes ranging from soil micro-habitats to landscapes; (5) soil health means the physical, chemical and biological condition of soil, determining its capacity to function as a vital living system and to provide ecosystem services; (6) soil resilience means the ability of soil to preserve its functions and maintain its capacity to provide ecosystem services, and to withstand and recover from disturbances; (7) soil management practices means practices that impact the physical, chemical or biological properties of soil; (8) soil district means a part of the territory of a Member State, which has been delineated by that Member State in accordance with this Directive; (9) soil unit means a spatially discrete area within a soil district resulting from the intersection of sets of spatial data used as factors for statistical homogeneity within that soil district; (10) soil descriptor means a parameter describing a physical, chemical or biological characteristic of soil health; (11) soil health assessment means the evaluation of the health of soil based on the measurement or estimation of the values of soil descriptors; (12) soil contamination means the presence of a substance in soil at a level that may be, directly or indirectly, harmful to human health or the environment; (13) contaminant means a substance liable to cause soil contamination or contamination of bedrock or parent material; (14) potentially contaminated site means a delineated area where soil contamination or contamination of bedrock or parent material caused by anthropogenic point-source activities is suspected based on relevant evidence; (15) contaminated site means a delineated area with confirmed soil contamination or contamination of bedrock or parent material caused by anthropogenic point-source activities; (16) land means the surface of the Earth that is not regularly covered by water bodies; (17) land cover means the physical and biological cover of the surface of the Earth; (18) soil sealing means the covering of soil with completely or partially impermeable material; (19) sealed soil means an area of soil that underwent soil sealing; (20) soil removal means the temporary or long-term total or partial removal of soil in an area; (21) de-sealing means the conversion of sealed soil into soil that is not sealed soil; (22) transfer function means a mathematical rule that enables the value of a measurement performed using a methodology different from a reference methodology to be converted into the value that would be obtained by performing the soil measurement using the reference methodology; (23) public concerned means the public affected or likely to be affected by soil degradation, or having an interest in the decision-making procedures related to the implementation of the obligations under this Directive, including landowners, land managers and land users, as well as non-governmental organisations promoting the protection of human health or the environment and meeting any requirements under national law; (24) soil regeneration means an intentional activity aimed at changing the condition of soil from degraded to healthy; (25) risk means the likelihood of harmful effects to human health or the environment resulting from exposure to soil contamination or to contamination of bedrock or parent material; (26) soil investigation means a process that can be performed in multiple and iterative phases to assess the presence and levels of contaminants in soil, bedrock or parent material and, if relevant, to characterise and determine the extent of a contaminated site; (27) soil remediation means a set of actions that reduce, isolate or immobilise contaminants in soil, bedrock or parent material; (28) risk reduction measures mean measures that aim to reduce the risks that contaminated sites pose to human health and the environment, either by means of soil remediation or modification of the source-pathway-receptor linkage without changing the characteristics of the contamination itself.