Royal Decree 840/2024 regulating sustainable nutrition in agricultural soils

On January 1, 2023, Royal Decree 1051/2022, of December 27, regulating sustainable nutrition in agricultural soils ("Royal Decree 1051/2022") came into force, in order to optimize the use of nutrients and reduce the environmental impact of the application in agricultural soils of fertilizer products and other sources of nutrients or organic matter.

This regulation, which became effective on January 1, 2024, included "good practices" for fertilization, instructions on applying manure and other organic materials, techniques to reduce ammonia emissions when applying urea and urea nitrogen solutions, as well as compliance with the limits on heavy metals in the soil. Likewise, it established the need to have a digital exploitation registry that, in addition to recording plant protection products treatments, must record the contribution of fertilizers and organic matter applied. Royal Decree 1051/2022 also introduced a general registry of manufacturers and other economic agents of fertilizers, with the double objective of improving surveillance in the market and facilitating the implementation of data collection that allows improving the calculation of emissions into the atmosphere derived from the use of fertilizers.

After one year of application of Royal Decree 1051/2022, the legislator detected the need to facilitate the implementation of certain technical aspects and to reinforce coherence with other regulations such as Law 7/2022, of April 8, on waste and contaminated soils for a circular economy, or regional provisions and to clarify certain wordings. As a result of this, Royal Decree 840/2024, of August 27, which modifies Royal Decree 1051/2022 ("Royal Decree 840/2024"), was published in the Official State Gazette last August 28, 2024.

The main changes introduced by Royal Decree 840/2024 are the following:

• Inclusion of new waste categories to Annex VIII of Royal Decree 1051/2022 (materials other than fertilizer products and manures that can be used in the fertilization of agricultural soils).
• Modification of the provisions relating to the exploitation registry, the fertilizer plan and those that facilitate the use of manures and organic fertilizers.
• Inclusion of certain incentives for the use of the digital registry (as it is not mandatory) and specification of the information that must be included in the registry, indicating that one of the key points is the determination of the dose.
• To facilitate the use of manures, fertilizers and other organic materials, Royal Decree 840/2024 makes the provisions regarding their stacking or application more flexible regarding burial periods, exceptions and application periods.
• Clarification and inclusion of new measures to reduce ammonia emissions.