Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Contaminated land definition

What does Contaminated land mean? Land that contains harmful substances in, on or under it such that they are causing, or there is a significant possibility they will cause, harm to people or the environment, or pollute waters. In practice it covers sites needing assessment and remediation. In England and Wales and in Scotland, contaminated land is a defined term under part iia of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and statutory guidance. A site is determined where evidence shows significant harm, a significant possibility of such harm, or pollution of controlled waters (or, in Scotland, the water environment), demonstrated by a pollutant linkage (source–pathway–receptor). Local...

Contaminated land determinations by local authorities under Part IIA EPA 1990—criteria, consultation, urgent/postponed decisions, records, notifications and remediation (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Environment expert

Practice notes

Who makes the determination?

Local authorities (LAs) alone carry the duty to decide whether land constitutes Contaminated land under Part IIA of the Environmental Protection ACT 1990 (EPA 1990). They may only pass this duty on in line with their statutory powers under section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972. When weighing up a potential determination, LAs can take into account information or guidance from the Environment Agency (EA), Natural Resources Wales (NRW), or another suitably qualified specialist. Even so, the final call rests with the LA.

In practice, an officer acting under delegated authority, or a committee through a formal resolution, will usually make the determination. Whichever decision-maker is involved, they must ask the correct question: is the land contaminated land, or not? At that point, it is premature to consider the suitability of serving a remediation notice; that assessment comes after the determination.

For instance, in Shelley, an LA committee framed the issue wrongly when deciding whether a statutory nuisance existed. It focused on whether issuing an abatement notice was appropriate, rather than whether a statutory nuisance actually existed...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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