B5.7.5 The Contaminated Land (England) Regulations 2006 [SI No. 1380]

 

Under these regulations, Local Authorities must determine if land is contaminated. If a local council decides that a site is contaminated, both the council and the environmental regulator will decide whether it should be designated as a ‘special site’.

Special Sites

Regulation 2 details which land is required to be designated as a special site. This includes (please note this is not an exhaustive list):

  • Land affecting controlled waters in certain circumstances.
  • Land which is contaminated land by reason of waste acid tars in, on or under the land.
  • Land on which any of the following activities have been carried on at any time:
    • The purification (including refining) of crude petroleum or of oil extracted from petroleum, shale or any other bituminous substance except coal.
    • The manufacture or processing of explosives.
    • Land on which a prescribed process designated for central control has been or is being carried on under an authorisation, where the process does not solely consist of things being done which are required by way of remediation.
    • Land on which an activity has been or is being carried on in a Part A(1) installation.
    • Land within a nuclear site.
    • Land owned or occupied by or on behalf of the Secretary of State for Defence; the Defence Council, an international headquarters or defence organisation, or the service authority of a visiting force, being land used for naval, military or air force purposes.
    • Land on which the manufacture, production or disposal of chemical weapons, some biological agents or toxins and certain biological weapons.
  • Land which is contaminated land wholly or partly by virtue of any radioactivity possessed by any substance in, on or under that land.

 

Special Sites are enforced by the Environment Agency. All other sites are enforced by the Local Authority.

Remediation Notice

A remediation notice may be served on the appropriate person, which may include the polluter, the owner of the land and anyone who occupies any part of the land.

The notice will state how and by when they must remedy the condition of the land and failure to comply with the notice is an offence.


Appropriate Persons

The appropriate person(s) are identified by the Local Authority. There are two classes:

  • Class A
  • Class B

 

Class A

A Class A appropriate person is those who cause or allow the pollutants to be in (or on or under) the land.

If the Local Authority or Environmental Regulator cannot identify a Class A Person, the Class B person(s) become liable.

Class B

A Class B appropriate person is the owner(s) or occupier(s) of the land.

Where neither a Class A nor a Class B appropriate person is found, the Local Authority may have to undertake the remedial works.

 

Registers

The Environment Agency must maintain a register of all Special Sites.

The Local Authority must maintain a register of all other sites. This is available for the public to view, usually at the local Council offices.

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