693

ISSN 1064-2293, Eurasian Soil Science, 2006, Vol. 39, No. 7, pp. 693–698. © Pleiades Publishing, Inc., 2006.Original Russian Text © A.S. Yakovlev, P.F. Loiko, N.V. Sazonov A.N. Prokhorov, P.M. Sapozhnikov, 2006, published in Pochvovedenie, 2006, No. 7, pp. 773–780.

The concept of sustainable development of the Rus-sian Federation postulated in the presidential decree of1996 suggests that the state policy in the sphere of envi-ronmental protection and rational management of natu-ral resources should be aimed at achieving a harmoni-ous equilibrium between nature and human society. Toensure this strategic goal, it is necessary to work outecological norms of the environmental quality. Theobservance of these norms should be regulated by cor-responding legislation.

At present, it is generally recognized that the soilcover of the planet plays a vitally important role in thebiosphere. The related problems have been thoroughlyconsidered in the works of Academician Dobrovol’skiiand his followers. In this context, the proper assessmentand monitoring of the ecological state of soils has cometo the forefront of soil investigations. From the practicalviewpoint, it is necessary to establish ecological normsof soil quality and to determine the permissible anthro-pogenic loads on soils.

To achieve this goal, special scientific investigationsare necessary. At the same time, it is necessary todevelop a legislative base in the sphere of environmen-tal protection and management of natural resources.This legislation should reinforce the environmentalcompliance policy at the federal and local levels.

The analysis of the current state of legislation in thesphere of the ecological assessment and the ecologicalrating of soil quality attests to the absence of a unifiedapproach to these problems at the federal level.

Thus, the norms of regulating soil quality and theecological assessment and rating of soils are scattered

in dozens of regulations in different legislations,including the environmental protection legislation, landlegislation, sanitary legislation, agricultural legislation,construction legislation, etc. In most cases, the relateddocuments have an evident technocratic character; i.e.,they defend the interests of particular land users, oftento the detriment of the environment, which complicatestheir practical application in the sphere of environmen-tal protection and soil conservation.

The current tendency toward a priority developmentof natural resources in Russia, coupled with radicalchanges in land ownership rights, including agricul-tural, forest, and reserved lands without proper scien-tific and legal substantiation of the corresponding deci-sions and against the background of the ineffective sys-tem of state control over the use of land resources, isone of the major factors of the catastrophic degradationof soils and the poor state of land resources in Russia.These problems are of key importance for ensuring thenational security of Russia.

The absence of a well-organized federal service per-forming regular monitoring of the state of soils and landresources in Russia prevents the development of a sys-tem of measures aimed at soil conservation and rationalmanagement of land resources. The recently adoptedgovernmental regulations “On the Federal Program ofLand Monitoring Works” (November 28, 2002;no. 846), “On the Organization and Maintenance of theFederal Monitoring of the Environment” (March 31,2003; no. 177), and “On the Use of the Lands Subjectedto Radioactive and Chemical Contamination, Remedia-tion Works on These Lands, the Delineation of the

MATERIALS OF THE IV CONGRESS OF THE DOKUCHAEV SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY

Legal Aspects of Soil Conservation and Land Cadaster Works

A. S. Yakovlev

a

, P. F. Loiko

b

, N. V. Sazonov

b

, A. N. Prokhorov

c

, and P. M. Sapozhnikov

b

a

Faculty of Soil Science, Moscow State University, Leninskie gory, Moscow, 119992 Russia

b

Federal Land Cadaster Center, Gusyatnikov per. 11, Moscow, 101000 Russia

c

Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation, ul. B. Gruzinskaya 4/6, Moscow, 123995 Russia

Received April 19, 2005

Abstract

—The analysis of modern Russian legislation in the sphere of environmental protection, managementof natural resources, soil conservation, and land cadaster works has been performed. It is shown that a commonfederal approach to environmental impact assessments and soil quality assessments is virtually absent. Ecolog-ical indices are not taken into account in the federal land cadaster. Most of the recently adopted legislative reg-ulations in this sphere have a technocratic character. The recent governmental regulations on land and environ-mental monitoring have still not been put into practice. To ensure soil conservation policy and protect soils asa component of the environment, a distinction should be made between the notions of soil and land in the legaldocuments. The basic principles of the proposed law “On Soil Conservation” are outlined. It is argued that asystem of soil-ecological criteria should be elaborated for the proper assessment of soil quality. As a soil con-servation service is absent in Russia, it is suggested that the Dokuchaev Soil Science Society should organizean association for the protection and rehabilitation of Russian soils.

DOI:

10.1134/S1064229306070015

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Zones of Special Protection, and on the Preservation ofObjects in these Zones” (February 27, 2004; no. 112)have a declarative character and cannot be put intopractice taking into account the current system of landmanagement and the lack of financial resources.

Legislation issues related to soil conservation andthe protection of land resources in Russia can be tenta-tively grouped into two categories: the environmentalprotection legislation and the legislation regulating theuse of natural resources (Table 1).

Within the framework of the environmental protec-tion legislation, soil is considered as a component of theenvironment. Soil conservation issues are reflected inthe most general way in the federal law “On Environ-mental Protection.”

The legislation regulating the use of naturalresources includes the Water Code and the Forest Code,as well as federal laws regulating the use of mineralresources; the use of soil and land resources is consid-ered in several legislative documents. The Land Codeof the Russian Federation, together with federal laws“On the Turnover of Agricultural Lands” and “On theFederal Land Cadaster,” considers land as an object ofpurchase and sale; these documents regulate land ten-ure rights. Land as a means of agricultural productionis considered in federal laws “On the Federal Regula-tion of the Fertility Status of Agricultural Lands,” “OnLand Reclamation,” and some others.

In practice, these groups of legislative regulationsare tightly interrelated. This is especially true withrespect to the ecological and economic assessments ofland and soil resources, the maintenance of the land

cadaster, the development of criteria to assess and con-trol soil quality, and other issues related to soil conser-vation.

In fact, this interweaving of different legislative reg-ulations presents a serious danger to the practice of soilconservation. It should be stressed that, in a number oflaws regulating land management and land tenurerights, the notion of soil is not considered at all. Thus,soils are not considered as a separate object thatrequires special protection. In practice, the correspond-ing provisions of the laws suggesting that “land ownersshould perform measures aimed at soil conservation”(article 1, 13 of the Land Code) are often ignored.

Unfortunately, attempts of soil scientists to developan independent legislation regulating soil conservationissues were unsuccessful. A standard answer of lawyersto these suggestions is that “soil is mentioned in theLand Code, which provides sufficient grounds for itslegal protection.” The absence of positive examples ofthe practical application of corresponding provisions inthe Land Code for the purposes of soil conservation andthe poor state of soil resources in Russia are not takeninto account by decision-makers, including various fed-eral agencies. This attitude toward the soil resources ofthe country in modern Russia is quite explainable,because the major attention is focused on land owner-ship rights; the ecological status of soils is virtuallyignored.

The absence of a clear distinction between thenotions of soil and land in the legislative documents isparticularly dangerous in those spheres of the economywhere the use of the land is not directly associated withthe quality and fertility of soils. In this case, the validity

Federal legislation relatedto soil conservation issues

Environmental regulations

Regulations on the useof natural resources

Regulations on the use

of land resources

Land Code,

Forest Code;federal lawson the useof mineral

Town-Planning Code

Federal laws:

On land planning,On the federal landcadaster,On the state regulation

Water Code,of the fertility of agriculturallands,On land amelioration,On the marketof agricultural land,On horticultural, gardening, and other noncommercialunions of citizens,On land taxOn architectural activity

Federal laws:

On environmental protection,On specially preserved naturalterritories,On ecological assessments,On the animal life,On industrial and municipal wastes,On the protection of Lake Baikal,On the atmospheric air,On safety measures in workwith pesticides and agrichemicals,On the rehabilitation of lands pollutedwith radionuclides,On the sanitary–epidemiological safetyof the populationOn the ratification of the Biodiversity Convention,On the federal land cadaster,On the state regulationof the fertility of agricultural lands,

Table 1.

resources

On the protection of historical and cultural monuments

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of soils as a natural object and as a means of productionis not taken into account. In the economies based on theuse of soil fertility, the soil quality is assessed withrespect to its fertility status, whereas the natural ecolog-ical functions of the soils are ignored. The only actualsoil conservation norm fixed in the legislation pre-scribes the removal of the fertile soil layer during con-struction and other works leading to soil disturbancewith further application of this layer onto the soil sur-face for reclamation purposes. However, the economicincentives in support of this measure are relativelyweak.

Thus, the legislation regulating the use of landresources in Russia is mainly oriented toward socioeco-nomic problems of land use and land ownership; theenvironmental and ecological aspects of the use of soilresources are poorly regulated in the corresponding leg-islative documents. In other words, soil as a componentof the environment lacks proper legal protection.

The situation has somewhat improved after theadoption of the new federal law “On EnvironmentalProtection,” in which soil is separately mentioned as anobject to be protected. This law opens possibilities fornew legislative initiatives in the field of soil conserva-tion and soil quality assessments. Moreover, it makes itpossible to get rid of the narrow bureaucratic attitudetoward the practical application of land legislation. Itshould be noted that special mentioning of soil in thenew federal law was made after the repeated requests ofsoil scientists, which were listed in the addresses to thePresident of Russia and in the resolutions of the confer-ences and congresses that took place in Russia in therecent past, including the congresses of the DokuchaevSoil Science Society in St. Petersburg (1996) and inSuzdal (2000) and the conference devoted to Russianchernozems in Belgorod (2000). One of the first stepsin the practical realization of this important amendmentto the law is the preparation of the new law “On SoilConservation” that is currently being considered by theState Duma. This law should find an adequate placeamong other laws aimed at the legislative support ofnature conservation policy, including the laws “OnWildlife Conservation,” “On the Atmospheric Air,” andsome others.

The draft of the law “On Soil Conservation” is basedon the following basic principles.

(1) Soil is an independent natural object thatrequires special protection together with other compo-nents of the environment.

(2) The priority of soil preservation in the course ofvarious ways of land use should be ensured.

(3) Land users should be obliged to perform mea-sures aimed at the prevention of soil degradation andsoil pollution and at the remediation of degraded andpolluted soils.

(4) It is necessary to prevent the negative impact ofdegraded and polluted soils on humans, plants, animals,

soil organisms, and other components of the environ-ment.

The adoption of this law should open new prospectsfor the harmonization of the environmental legislationand the legislation regulating the use of naturalresources. It should also facilitate the development oflegislative norms ensuring soil conservation and preser-vation of soil ecological functions through a system ofstandards of permissible anthropogenic loads on soilsto be applied in different branches of the Russian econ-omy. This law should ensure the legislative base for theproper assessment of the natural potential of soils andthe soil quality on particular land plots to be included inthe federal land cadaster; soil properties and soil eco-logical functions should be taken into account in landevaluation procedures. Finally, this law should providethe basis for special protection of rare soils, as well asvirgin soils that have to be preserved as reference soilsfor monitoring purposes through the system of spe-cially protected and reserved territories.

Certain hopes in the field of legal protection of soilsare associated with a resolution on ecological norms tobe adopted by the Russian government. Currently, thisresolution is being prepared by the Ministry of NaturalResources of the Russian Federation. As formulated inthis resolution, soil as the basic component of the bio-sphere should be taken into account during the develop-ment of ecological norms. In this context, it is impor-tant to develop the legislative and methodological basesfor assessing the quality of land (as an object of owner-ship rights) and the quality of soil (as a natural objectthat is used in different ways). The ecological norms ofsoil quality should be interrelated with correspondingnorms for the adjacent environmental media, i.e., withthe ecological norms regulating the quality of the air,the surface and ground waters, the animal life, the veg-etation, and the geological strata.

It should be noted that the scientific substantiationof ecological norms regulating the quality of differentcomponents of the environment has yet to be devel-oped. At present, there are only several documents thatcan be directly used to assess the ecological status ofparticular components of the environment and the envi-ronment as a whole. Some of these documents are listedin Table 2. In the real practice of environmental conser-vation works, sanitary–hygienic norms are appliedtogether with some norms worked out in particularbranches of the economy (in construction, agriculture,forestry, and some others).

The recently adopted federal law “On Environmen-tal Protection” contains a separate article devoted toecological norms. This article gives soil scientists legalgrounds for investigations into the ecological rating ofsoil quality with due account for the particular environ-mental conditions and the character of the land use.These investigations are important in the context of theneed to perform the ecological and economic assess-ments of soil quality in relation to the permissible

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Tab

le 2

.

Par

amet

ers

and

crite

ria

to a

sses

s th

e ec

olog

ical

sta

tus

of th

e en

viro

nmen

t

Para

met

ers

to a

sses

s th

e en

viro

nmen

tE

colo

gica

l sta

tus

of th

e en

viro

nmen

tIn

form

atio

n so

urce

s

Los

s of

the

envi

ron-

men

tal q

ualit

yC

onve

ntio

nally

zer

oL

owM

oder

ate

Hig

hC

atas

trop

hic

Ten

tativ

e gu

idel

ines

to

dete

rmin

e th

e de

gree

of

ecol

ogic

al d

amag

e to

th

e en

viro

nmen

t. A

p-pr

oved

by

the

Cha

irm

an

of th

e St

ate

Env

iron

-m

enta

l Com

mitt

ee o

n M

arch

9, 1

999

(Mos

-co

w, 1

999)

Scal

e1

23

45

Qua

litat

ive

indi

ces t

o as

sess

the

ecol

ogic

al

stat

us o

f th

een

viro

nmen

t

No

indi

catio

ns a

ttest

-in

g to

(a)

the

supp

res-

sion

of

natu

ral a

nd a

n-th

ropo

geni

c bi

ocen

os-

es, (

b) h

uman

hea

lth

dist

urba

nces

und

er th

e ne

gativ

e im

pact

of t

he

envi

ronm

ent,

and

(c)

dist

urba

nces

of

the

func

tiona

l equ

ilibr

ium

in

the

natu

ral m

edia

Vis

ible

sup

pres

sion

of

natu

ral b

ioce

nose

s;

agri

cultu

ral p

rodu

c-tio

n w

ithou

t res

tric

-tio

ns; t

he e

nvir

onm

en-

tal q

ualit

y is

sat

isfa

c-to

ry f

or h

uman

s;

part

ial r

ever

sibl

e di

s-tu

rban

ces

of th

e fu

nc-

tiona

l equ

ilibr

ium

in

the

natu

ral m

edia

Stro

ng s

uppr

essi

on o

f na

tura

l bio

ceno

ses;

agr

i-cu

ltura

l pro

duct

ion

is in

-ef

fect

ive

beca

use

of th

e po

or q

ualit

y of

the

prod

-uc

ts g

row

n an

d lo

w s

oil

ferti

lity;

hum

an h

ealth

di

stur

banc

es re

late

d to

th

e ne

gativ

e im

pact

of

the

envi

ronm

ent;

an-

thro

poge

nic

load

s ex

-ce

ed th

e en

viro

nmen

tal

tole

ranc

e lim

it

Im

poss

ibili

ty o

f th

e lo

ng-t

erm

exi

sten

ce o

f ar

tific

ially

pla

nted

st

ands

; agr

icul

tura

l us

e of

the

land

is c

on-

trai

ndic

ated

; ser

ious

di

stur

banc

es o

f hum

an

heal

th; i

rrev

ersi

ble

dist

urba

nces

in th

e fu

nctio

ning

of

natu

ral

med

ia

Zer

o bi

opro

duct

ivity

of

land

s; d

irec

t con

tact

of

hum

ans

with

the

en-

viro

nmen

t is

dang

er-

ous;

nat

ural

med

ia a

re

irre

vers

ibly

dis

turb

ed

and

cann

ot p

erfo

rm

thei

r ec

olog

ical

fun

c-tio

ns

Indi

ces

char

acte

riz-

ing

the

ecol

ogic

al

stat

us o

f th

een

viro

nmen

t

Satis

fact

ory

ecol

ogic

al s

ituat

ion

Eco

logi

cal e

mer

genc

yE

colo

gica

l dis

aste

rC

rite

ria

to a

sses

s th

e ec

olog

ical

sta

tus

of th

e te

rrito

ry to

del

inea

te th

e ar

eas

of e

colo

gica

l em

erge

ncy

and

ecol

ogi-

cal d

isas

ter.

Iss

ued

by

the

Min

istr

y of

Env

iron

-m

enta

l Pro

tect

ion

in

Rus

sia

(Mos

cow

, 199

2)T

oxic

ity c

lass

es o

f w

aste

s an

d po

lluta

nts

Und

istu

rbed

eco

logi

-ca

l sys

tem

Dis

turb

ed e

colo

gica

l sy

stem

; a s

elf-

reco

v-er

y pe

riod

of

no le

ss

than

thre

e ye

ars

Dis

turb

ed e

colo

gica

l sy

stem

; the

reco

very

of

the

syst

em r

equi

res

no

less

than

ten

year

s aft

er

the

low

erin

g of

the

haza

rdou

s im

pact

from

th

e so

urce

of

pollu

tion

Stro

ngly

dis

turb

ed

ecol

ogic

al s

yste

m; t

he

reco

very

of t

he s

yste

m

requ

ires

mor

e th

an 3

0 ye

ars

afte

r th

e el

imi-

natio

n of

the

sour

ce o

f po

llutio

n

Irre

vers

ibly

dis

turb

ed

ecol

ogic

al s

yste

m; t

he

reco

very

per

iod

is in

-de

fini

tely

long

Ord

er n

o. 5

11 o

f th

e M

inis

try

of N

atur

al R

e-so

urce

s “O

n th

e D

eter

-m

inat

ion

of E

nvir

on-

men

tal D

ange

r C

lass

es

of W

aste

s an

d Po

llut-

ants

” fr

omJu

ne 1

5, 2

001

Cla

sses

of

toxi

city

5, N

onto

xic

4, L

ow to

xici

ty3,

Mod

erat

ely

toxi

c2,

Hig

hly

toxi

c1,

Ext

rem

ely

toxi

cD

egre

e of

the

haza

rd-

ous

impa

ct o

f was

tes

and

pollu

tant

s

Ver

y lo

wL

owM

oder

ate

Hig

h;V

ery

high

Lan

d co

ntam

inat

ion

leve

l1,

Per

mis

sibl

e2,

Low

3, M

oder

ate

4, H

igh

5, V

ery

high

Met

hodo

logi

cal r

ecom

-m

enda

tions

on

the

delin

-ea

tion

of d

egra

ded

and

cont

amin

ated

land

s. P

ub-

lishe

d in

“E

nviro

nmen

tal

Prot

ectio

n: S

oils

”,M

osco

w: A

ll-R

ussi

aR

esea

rch

Inst

itute

of

the

Env

ironm

ent,

2001

;pp

. 65–

110.

Pre

pare

d by

A

.S. Y

akov

lev,

V.N

. She

p-tu

khov

, Yu.

M. M

atve

ev,

S.I.

Res

hetn

ikov

, and

T.V

. Res

hetin

a

Deg

ree

of d

egra

datio

n of

soi

ls a

nd la

nds

01

23

4

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anthropogenic loads. A good example of the expedi-ency of such works is the situation with ecological feesthat have to be paid by land users in the zones with dif-ferent susceptibility of natural soils to anthropogenicimpacts. For example, at present, the Noril’sk Nickelcompany has to pay considerably higher fees for thepollution of tundra soils that are more susceptible to thetoxic impact of heavy metals in comparison with soilsin the other natural zones of Russia. The ecological feeshave been increased in this case on the basis of the well-known document concerning “allowable concentra-tions of heavy metals and arsenic in soils.” An analo-gous correction to the ecological fees can be made onthe basis of the recently adopted documents regulatingthe allowable residual concentrations of oil and oilproducts in the soils of different natural zones in depen-dence on the character of their use.

In the legislation regulating the use of landresources, the problems of soil quality assessment andsoil conservation are to be considered in a group oflegal documents concerning the federal land cadaster(FLC). In the modern period of new socioeconomicrelations and the development of a market economy inRussia, the FLC is usually considered in relation toother groups of cadaster records, including the federaltown-planning cadaster (FTPC) and the new federalcadaster of real estate objects (FCREO).

The FLC encompasses the whole territory of Russia(the land resources of Russia) and contains informationon the location, area, and quality of all the land plots. Inturn, it serves as a spatial base for other kinds ofcadaster works.

As for the FTPC, it contains information on the landunder permanent settlements, including urban areas,and encompasses about 1.1% of the land resources ofRussia. The FTPC contains obligatory characteristicsof buildings, technical constructions, and other objectsabove and under the land surface. In other words, itdeals with the objects created by people to improvetheir life. The FTPC is linked to the FLC via the federalregistration of ownership rights on real estate objects.

The FCREO concerns the lands modified by humanlabor, i.e., land plots with prospected mineral resources,land plots with buildings and constructions, land plotswith ameliorative systems and hydraulic engineeringconstructions, land plots with planted trees and shrubs,arable lands, lands allocated to pipelines and roads, etc.Overall, this category of lands occupies nearly 10% ofthe territory of Russia.

The modern Russian legislation puts special empha-sis on the comprehensive regulation of the use of landplots and related real estate objects. The Ministry forEconomic Development of the Russian Federation is tobe responsible for this regulation. It is supposed that theFCREO will integrate the cadaster data on land plotsand other real estate objects. In other words, an integra-tion of the FCREO with the FTPC and the FLC is sup-

posed. However, at present, there is little experience inmaintaining such a cadaster.

If we consider the legislative aspects of the mainte-nance of the land cadaster, we can distinguish betweenthree groups of legal norms applicable for all the landplots in Russia that should be controlled by the state.

First, these are the norms regulating the ecologicallysafe use of land plots; in other words, these are certainrestrictions on the character of land use in dependenceon the particular conditions.

Second, these are the norms regulating compulsoryacquisition of land plots from the particular owners bythe state.

Third, these are the norms regulating the land tax onthe basis of the cadaster evaluation of the cost of landplots as the means of agricultural production and as acomponent of the biosphere.

The efficient work of this legislative system is onlypossible if proper information on the land plots and realestate objects is available. Unfortunately, after 14 yearsof reforms, this information is still unavailable. Thereare no accurate and up-to-date data on the areas andquality of land plots and real estate objects owned bydifferent users. The previous system of land cadasterworks has actually been ruined in a series of organiza-tional disturbances. On August 25, 1999, the Russiangovernment issued a regulation suggesting that the fed-eral land cadaster works should be completed in 2001.Unfortunately, this decision is still unfulfilled.

Under these conditions, the mechanism of privatiza-tion of land and real estate objects is based on marketestimates of the value of the privatized lands; the initialinformation on their quality is not taken into account,which might lead to serious economic and ecologicallosses.

As soil scientists, we are concerned with theabsence of a federal system of soil quality assessment,which should be an obligatory component of the landcadaster. We suppose that soil science and soil scien-tists should cooperate with specialists working in thefield of land planning and the land cadaster. The needfor this cooperation is evident in the context of the cur-rent socioeconomic situation in Russia. It is necessaryto create a legal basis for the organization of a soil con-servation service in Russia.

The analysis of the existing legislative documents inthe sphere of the land cadaster suggests that certainimprovements in land assessment are necessary. Forexample, these documents do not take into account anumber of crucially important parameters for theproper assessment of the agroecological state of soils,including the indices of soil compaction and soil pollu-tion with toxicants. The list of the indices characteriz-ing the state of Russian soils has to be approved by sci-entists before it is introduced into the land cadaster.

At the same time, certain positive shifts in thissphere should be mentioned. Recently, the Federal

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Land Cadaster Center has prepared methodologicalguidelines for cadaster assessments of agriculturallands. These guidelines follow the Dokuchaev principleof the priority of soil quality assessment over theassessment of economic conditions in particular areas.

In the current situation, soil scientists have to bemore active in pursuing the strategic goals of the soilconservation policy. They should participate in thedevelopment of the laws ensuring legal grounds for soilmonitoring works in Russia and for the proper ecologi-cal assessment and rating of Russian soils. It seems thatthe period of critical remarks concerning the landreform in Russia is over; at present, concrete proposalsconcerning land management in different sectors of theRussian economy are necessary.

It should be noted that soil scientists are involved inthe development of ecological norms for the soils of dif-ferent natural zones, landscapes, and land uses. In particu-lar, the ecological norms listed in Table 2 have been devel-oped with the active participation of soil scientists. Theseare the norms regulating the procedure for the environ-mental and soil quality assessment and estimation of dam-age to the environment from anthropogenic activity, thenorms regulating permissible concentrations of oil prod-ucts and heavy metals in soils, the norms establishing tox-icity classes of different wastes, and the norms to estimatethe level of soil pollution with chemical substances and thedegree of soil degradation.

These documents are the product of the long-termcooperation between scientists, decision-makers, andindustrial companies, including Surgutneftegaz,Lukoil, Noril’skii Nickel, and others.

In recent years, a series of governmental regulationsand federal laws concerning land use and environmen-tal protection have been adopted. Among them, the fed-eral law “On the Transfer of Land Plots from One Cat-egory into Another Category” and governmental regu-lations related to the use of polluted lands (no. 112),land monitoring (no. 846), environmental monitoring(no. 177), and land preservation (no. 830) should bementioned. The revision of the Land, Forest, and Watercodes of the Russian Federation and of the federal lawsconcerning mineral resources, the land cadaster, andenvironmental protection is in progress. In this context,it is a challenge for soil scientists to develop necessaryindices and norms of the ecological status of soils andlands that should be included in these documents. It isparticularly important to take them into account in thefederal land cadaster. Indices and norms of the ecolog-ical status of soils are also necessary for decision-mak-ers responsible for the environmental impact assess-ments, the transfer of land plots from one category intoanother category, etc.

To achieve the efficiency of the soil conservationpolicy in Russia, it is necessary to organize cooperationbetween soil scientists, federal and local authorities andlawmakers, and industrial companies. From our pointof view, governmental regulations and federal lawsconcerning the use of natural resources and environmentalprotection should contain a clear distinction between thenotion of land as an object of socioeconomic relationshipsand the notion of soil as a component of the environment.This distinction should ensure a legal basis for the properorganization of soil protection.

In conclusion, we suggest that the following propos-als should be included in the resolution of the IV Con-gress of the Dokuchaev Soil Science Society.

(1) The congress supports the development andadoption of the federal law “On Soil Conservation.”This document should form the legal base for soil con-servation policy and confirm the status of soils as theobject of agriculture and one of the main components ofthe biosphere.

(2) The congress expresses its concern about theabsence of a proper system of land and soil monitoringin Russia. Information about the ecological functions ofsoils should be included in the system of indices of thefederal land cadaster and in the corresponding docu-ments regulating the environmental impact assessmentsin the country.

(3) As a soil conservation service is absent in Russiaand the criteria to assess soil quality in land cadasterworks and ecological assessments have yet to be elabo-rated and adopted, the congress suggests that an Asso-ciation on the Protection and Rehabilitation of RussianSoils should be organized under the aegis of theDokuchaev Soil Science Society. The strategic goal ofthis association is to facilitate public actions aimed atthe preservation of the soil capability to perform its bio-spheric functions under conditions of the increasinganthropogenic loads on the environment. It should pro-vide necessary information for decision makers andstimulate the development of an adequate soil conser-vation policy. It should also support efforts aimed at therehabilitation of polluted and degraded soils. The asso-ciation has to coordinate the work on the developmentof ecological norms and indices to assess soil qualityand insist on their inclusion in corresponding legisla-tive regulations and the federal land cadaster.

The Association should work in close cooperationwith the institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciencesand the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, theinstitutes of higher education, the governmental agen-cies dealing with the use of natural resources, and theparticular land users.