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: enforcing authorities’ recovery of remediation costs under EPA 1990 Part IIA—hardship, Class A/B, apportionment, debt recovery and charging notices (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Environment expert

Practice notes

When can Costs be recovered by an enforcing authority?

Subject to sections 78J(7) and 78K(6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990), an enforcing authority may reclaim its reasonable expenses from the appropriate person(s) after carrying out Remediation using its powers under EPA 1990, s 78N(3)(a), (c), (e) and (f), where any of the following apply:

there is an imminent risk of serious harm, or serious pollution of controlled waters
a person fails to meet any requirement set out in a remediation notice
having considered hardship, it decides not to pursue recovery of some or all costs (for example, it may still recover where entitled to a proportion of those costs)
no appropriate person, in relation to a particular matter, is found after reasonable inquiry (for example, it may later recover if an appropriate person is identified)

Where two or more appropriate persons exist, the enforcing authority may recover its costs from those persons in proportions determined under EPA 1990, s 78F(7)...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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