Abstract
Section 57 of the Environment Act 1995 introduced a new Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 to define contaminated land, and to create specific tailor-made powers to enforce remediation. Part IIA adopts a suitable for use approach to clean-up, which requires intervention only when necessary to control unacceptable risk to health or environment, and which reacts to pressure to bring brown land into productive use. As from April 1, 2000 when the Part IIA regime took effect, local authorities were charged with the inspection of their area for the purpose of identifying 'contaminated land'. In making a determination that a site is 'contaminated land', regulators must follow guidance as to what constitutes unacceptable risks in the context of the current use of the site. While scientific and legal clarity are factors of great significance to contaminated land determinations, in the absence of these, other factors may participate.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 142-156 |
Number of pages | 15 |
Journal | Journal of Planning & Environment Law |
Issue number | 2 |
Publication status | Published - 2010 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Contaminated land