Contamination (radioactive) meaning

Does a seller need to disclose land contamination to a buyer? If the seller knows the land is contaminated, there is no obligation to reveal this to a purchaser; the principle of ‘buyer beware’ applies. However, when responding to CPSE enquiries, the seller must avoid any misleading statements. 16.4 Please provide (so far as the Seller is aware) details of: (a) historic and current uses of the Property and activities undertaken there; and (b) whether any hazardous substances, or contaminative or potentially contaminative materials, are in, on or beneath the Property, including asbestos or asbestos-containing materials, any known waste deposits, present or former storage areas for hazardous or radioactive substances, existing or previous storage tanks (above or below ground), and any parts of the Property that are or were landfill. A seller will typically seek the benefit of the ‘sold with information’ statutory exclusion and authorise the buyer to carry out its own site investigations. A typical response would be: ‘the buyer may undertake its own investigations...

Extension of EPA Part IIA to radioactive contamination At first, land affected by radioactivity was excluded from the ambit of Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990). Section 78YC of EPA 1990 makes clear that the Pt IIA regime does not apply to harm, or water pollution, attributable to radioactivity. However, that section grants the Secretary of State authority to make regulations and guidance concerning radioactive substances. These powers have been used to create, in effect, a parallel Part IIA scheme for radioactive contaminated land: Radioactive Contaminated Land (Enabling Powers) (England) Regulations 2005, SI 2005/3467 Radioactive Contaminated Land (Modification of Enactments) (England) Regulations 2006, SI 2006/1379 Radioactive Contaminated Land (Modification of Enactments) (Wales) Regulations 2006, SI 2006/2988 The government has published legally binding statutory guidance explaining how local authorities and the Environment Agency should implement the radioactive contaminated land regime (the RCL Statutory Guidance) in England, with equivalent guidance issued for Wales. The RCL Statutory Guidance is distinct...