TEHRAN – The Guardian Council ratified the bill on soil conservation which has been passed by the Majlis (Iranian Parliament) earlier in February, Masoumeh Hosseinpour, director general of department for parliamentary and legal affairs at the Department of Environment (DOE) has announced.

The Guardian Council of the Constitution is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence.

To become a law, any bill passed by the Majlis must be reviewed and approved by the Guardian Council to become law. The Guardian Council holds veto power over all legislation approved by the Majlis. 

Soil provides ecosystem services critical for life, as acts as a water filter and a growing medium; provides habitat for billions of organisms, contributing to biodiversity; and supplies most of the antibiotics used to fight diseases.

The bill has been approved after 14 years of effort put in by the Department of Environment, which is the responsible body to deal with business units polluting the soil or even shut down industries contributing to soil contamination, Hosseinpour explained.

Moreover, the owners of mining, industrial and manufacturing units active in the field of trade are obliged to comply with the law, she added, Fars reported on Tuesday.

As per the law, any trade or export of soil is prohibited, and only the excretion of minerals or exportation of low amounts of soil for research purposes is excluded after meeting the legal process, she further noted.

She went on to add that under the law, the judiciary system seeks to establish specific centers in order to pursue the related issues or violations, mining activities are also subject to compliance with environmental regulations.

According to Soil Science Society of America, soil provides ecosystem services critical for life, as acts as a water filter and a growing medium; provides habitat for billions of organisms, contributing to biodiversity; and supplies most of the antibiotics used to fight diseases. Humans use soil as a holding facility for solid waste, filter for wastewater, and foundation for the cities and towns. Finally, soil is the basis of nations’ agroecosystems which provides feed, fiber, food and fuel, while Industrial, household, and non-point source pollution jeopardizes the health of the environment and humans.

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