Radioactive Contaminated Land (Scotland) Regulations 2007: statutory guidance

ANNEX 4: Glossary of Terms

APPROPRIATE PERSON: defined in section 78A(9) as: "any person who is an appropriate person, determined in accordance with section 78F..., to bear responsibility for any thing which is to be done by way of remediation in any particular case."

CONTAMINANT: a substance which is in, on or under the land and which has the potential to cause harm or to cause pollution of the water environment. Where contaminant is used it may be in reference to either radioactive or non radioactive contaminants. To assist clarity a definition of "radioactive contaminant" has been introduced which is defined in this glossary

CONTAMINATED LAND: defined in section 78A(2) as "any land which appears to the local authority in whose area it is situated to be in such a condition, by reason of substances in, on or under the land, that -

"(a) significant harm is being caused or there is a significant possibility of such harm being caused, or;

"(b) significant pollution of the water environment is being caused or there is a significant possibility of such pollution being caused."

ENFORCING AUTHORITY: defined in section 78A(9) as:

(a) in relation to a special site, SEPA;

(b) in relation to contaminated land other than a special site, the local authority in whose area the land is situated.

HARM: is defined in (the modified) S78(A)4 as:

"lasting exposure to any human being resulting from the after-effects of a radiological emergency, past practice or work activity."

LOCAL AUTHORITY: defined in section 78A(9) as meaning any Scottish local authority.

RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINANT: a substance which is in, on or under the land and which has the potential to cause harm or to cause pollution of the water environment. Paragraph A.13 Radioactive contaminant is used only when the substance in, on or under the land is a radioactive substance, i.e. it meets the definition of substance as modified by the Radioactive Contaminated Land (Scotland) Regulations 2007

RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATED LAND: is defined as:

"any land which appears to SEPA to be in such a condition, by reason of substances in, on or under the land, that -

"(a) SIGNIFICANT HARM is being caused or there is a SIGNIFICANT POSSIBILITY of such harm being caused; or

"(b) SIGNIFICANT POLLUTION OF THE WATER ENVIRONMENT is being caused or there is a significant possibility of such pollution being caused".

PATHWAY: is one or more routes or means by, or through, which a receptor:

(a) is being exposed to, or affected by, a contaminant, or

(b) could be so exposed or affected. Paragraph A.16

POLLUTANT: a contaminant which forms part of a pollutant linkage. Paragraph A.19

POLLUTANT LINKAGE: the relationship between a contaminant, a pathway and a receptor. Paragraph A.19

RECEPTOR: either

(a) human beings

(b) non-human species

(c) the water environment

REMEDIATION: defined in section 78A(7) as

"(a) the doing of anything for the purpose of assessing the condition of -

"(i) the contaminated land in question;

"(ii) the water environment affected by that land; or

"(iii) any land adjoining or adjacent to that land;

"(b) the doing of any works, the carrying out of any operations or the taking of any steps in relation to any such land or waters for the purpose -

"(i) of preventing or minimising, or remedying or mitigating the effects of, any significant harm, or any significant pollution of the water environment, by reason of which the contaminated land is such land; or

"(ii) of restoring the land or water environment to its former state; or

"(c) the making of subsequent inspections from time to time for the purpose of keeping under review the condition of the land or water environment."

REMEDIATION ACTIONS: any individual thing which is being, or is to be, done by way of remediation.

REASONABLE GROUNDS: is the set of conditions that SEPA must satisfy in order to justify inspecting land, namely that:

(a) A substance arising from a past practice, past work activity, or radiological emergency has been identified as present on the land; and

(b) Receptors have been identified on that land; and

(c) It is SEPA's opinion that it is possible that the identified contamination may cause lasting exposure giving rise to radiation doses exceeding those set out in Part A of this guidance.

REGISTER: the public register maintained by the enforcing authority under section 78R of particulars relating to contaminated land.

SEPA: the Scottish Environment Protection Agency.

SIGNIFICANT HARM: defined in section 78A(5). It means any harm which is determined to be significant in accordance with the statutory guidance in Chapter A.

SIGNIFICANT POSSIBILITY OF SIGNIFICANT HARM: a possibility of significant harm being caused which, by virtue of section 78A(5), is determined to be significant in accordance with the statutory guidance in Chapter A.

SIGNIFICANT POLLUTANT LINKAGE: a pollutant linkage which forms the basis for a determination that a piece of land is contaminated land. Paragraph A.23

SIGNIFICANT POLLUTION OF THE WATER ENVIRONMENT: defined in section 78A(5). It means any significant pollution of the water environment which is determined to be significant in accordance with the statutory guidance in Chapter A.

SPECIAL SITE: defined by section 78A(3) as:

"any contaminated land

"(a) which has been designated as such a site by virtue of section 78BC or 78C(7) or 78D(6)...; and

"(b) whose designation as such has not been terminated by the appropriate Agency under section 78Q(4)...".

SUBSTANCE: is defined in (the modified) S78A(9) as:

"substance" means, whether in solid or liquid form or in the form of a gas or vapour, any substance which contains radionuclides that are or have been processed as part of a work activity or past practice, but shall not include radon gas and any radionuclide present as a result of the radioactive decay of radon;

WATER ENVIRONMENT: has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003.