Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Controlled waters definition

What does Controlled waters mean? In legal practice, “controlled waters” describes the surface and groundwater bodies protected from pollution and regulated for discharges and permitting. In England and Wales the term is defined in section 104 of the Water Resources Act 1991 (as amended) and comprises four categories: territorial waters, coastal waters, inland freshwaters (rivers, lakes and watercourses) and groundwaters. It underpins offences and controls now largely operated through the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 and guides incident reporting, clean-up and enforcement by the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales. In Scotland the modern regime regulates the “water environment” under the Water Environment and Water...

Environmental due diligence: searches, investigations and specialist reports for property and planning transactions in England and Wales

Published by a LexisNexis Environment expert

Practice notes

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Purpose of environmental searches and investigations

Environmental investigations are undertaken for a range of reasons. The price, depth and scope of any study will shift according to its objective. In general, outputs from desk-based reviews through to intrusive works are intended to deliver qualitative and/or quantitative risk evaluations, considering potential effects on human health, buildings and services, ecological receptors, or Controlled waters. Searches and investigations also enable parties to land transactions to proceed fully informed about legal Liabilities that may arise from historic or current uses of the land. The breadth of an investigation is shaped by the deal terms, the client’s risk appetite, the budget, and the site’s characteristics and environmental context. Typically, an investigation is commissioned:

to clarify liabilities under a range of regimes and laws, including:
- the Contaminated Land Regime set out in Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990)
- the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) (England) Regulations 2015 (EDR England), SI 2015/810
- the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) (Wales) Regulations 2009 (EDR Wales), SI 2009/995
- the environmental permitting regime set out in the Environmental...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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