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

PART 1: Scope of the Chapter

D.1 The statutory guidance in this Chapter is issued under sections 78F(6) and 78F(7) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. It provides guidance on circumstances where two or more persons are liable to bear the responsibility for any particular thing by way of remediation. It deals with the questions of who should be excluded from liability, and how the cost of each remediation action should be apportioned between those who remain liable after any such exclusion.

D.2 Section 78F provides that:

"(6) Where two or more persons would, apart from this subsection, be appropriate persons in relation to any particular thing which is to be done by way of remediation, the enforcing authority shall determine in accordance with guidance issued for the purpose by the Scottish Ministers whether any, and if so which, of them is to be treated as not being an appropriate person in relation to that thing.

"(7) Where two or more persons are appropriate persons in relation to any particular thing which is to be done by way of remediation, they shall be liable to bear the cost of doing that thing in proportions determined by the enforcing authority in accordance with guidance issued for the purpose by the Scottish Ministers".

D.3 The enforcing authority is therefore required to act in accordance with the guidance in this Chapter. Introductory summaries are included to various parts and sections of the guidance: these do not necessarily give the full detail of the guidance; the section concerned should be consulted.