Environmental Protection Act 1990 - Part IIA Contaminated Land: statutory guidance edition 2

PART 1: Scope of the Chapter

C.1 The statutory guidance in this Chapter is issued under section 78E(5) of Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and provides guidance on the remediation which may be required for any contaminated land.

C.2 Section 78E provides:

"(4) The only things by way of remediation which the enforcing authority may do, or require to be done, under or by virtue of [Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990]are things which it considers reasonable, having regard to-

"(a) the cost which is likely to be involved; and

"(b) the seriousness of the harm, or pollution of the water environment, in question.

"(5) In determining for any purpose of this Part-

"(a) what is to be done (whether by an appropriate person, the enforcing authority, or any other person) by way of remediation in any particular case,

"(b) the standard to which any land is, or waters are, to be remediated pursuant to [a remediation] notice, or

"(c) what is, or is not, to be regarded as reasonable for the purposes of subsection (4) above, "the enforcing authority shall have regard to any guidance issued for the purpose by the Scottish Ministers".

C.3 The enforcing authority is therefore required to have regard to this guidance when it is:

(a) determining what remediation action it should specify in a remediation notice as being required to be carried out (section 78E(1));

(b) satisfying itself that appropriate remediation is being, or will be, carried out without the service of a notice (section 78H(5)(b)); or

(c) deciding what remediation action it should carry out itself (section 78N).

C.4 The guidance in this Chapter does not attempt to set out detailed technical procedures or working methods. For information on these matters, the enforcing authority may wish to consult relevant technical documents prepared under the contaminated land research programmes of DETR, the Environment Agency, SEPA and SNIFFER and by other professional and technical organisations.